《First Necromancer: A System's Descent LitRPG》 Book 1 Ch. 1 Chapter 1 Awareness slowly crept to the forefront of Drew¡¯s being as an uncomfortable pressure rose to prominence. The serene comfort of his previous unconscious state swiftly evaporated as an urgent need came to his attention. Despite his current grogginess, it made itself known in such a way that it could not be denied. He needed to pee. Badly. Being the kind and thoughtful husband he was, he reached down to gently shift the covers and shuffle out of bed via the barest of movements¡­ except his hands met only air. Did Amber steal the covers again? Drew grumbled groggily at his wife¡¯s thievery. Come to think of it, it was pollen season, Amber¡¯s allergy-fueled snoring should have been near shaking the walls - banishing any thought of returning to sleep until he applied his marriage-saving earplugs. But all was silent. There was no snoring, no creepy-yet-endearing sleep muttering, no tossing and turning as her husband¡¯s movement provoked an unconscious bid to claim the soon-to-be-vacated bed space. He couldn¡¯t even hear the distant whine of Freya in the backyard ¨C who had an uncanny ability to sense when one of her owners was awake. It was true silence. It was in that moment that Drew¡¯s actual surroundings finally registered in his mind. Drew wasn¡¯t in his bed. His wife wasn¡¯t next to him. There was no night-pee-friendly connected bathroom nearby nor excitable dog stirring in the backyard. No, he was in a nondescript white room. He blinked rapidly, reaching up with his hands to wipe away what must have been a hallucination brought upon by his semi-wakefulness. Alas, even after clearing his eyes, the room remained, as did his urgent need to relieve himself. Ugh, this is the worst. A dream where I¡¯m stuck needing to pee, and not a single bathroom in sight. Drew shook his head in frustration as he propped himself up off the cool white floor he¡¯d found himself lying on. That¡¯s when it hit him, it was cold. Like, really cold. Drew felt a shiver run up and down his spine as he rubbed his arms to gain some semblance of warmth as he was otherwise naked, except for the silky heart-patterned boxers sitting around his waist. Drew turned around to take in his surroundings, the last fogginess of his mind swept away by the sudden influx of cold. He was definitely in a dream, that much was certain. The room itself was bright, but contained no light source of any kind. The walls never seemed to meet the floor nor the ceiling, and it was almost like the entire room had been hollowed out by some unnatural machine. Without any doors or windows, the room was bare and felt more like a prison cell of some kind rather than¡­ Well, whatever the hell this place is. Did I eat something bad before bed last night? Drew¡¯s confusion was only heightened upon seeing a perfectly normal-looking office desk, complete with two chairs. One of which was currently occupied. Drew could have sworn he had been alone in the room just moments prior. *DING!* A chime or bell of some kind went off and Drew jumped briefly as the silence was broken. The sound seemed to echo within his brain. What was even stranger than the sound itself, was that he could have sworn he¡¯d briefly seen the word ding flash before his eyes before quickly disappearing. Thinking that his dream-self had somehow gone insane, and that this was the start of a nightmare of some kind, Drew quickly looked back to the man sitting behind the desk. The man had short brown hair parted to the side like some kind of fancy businessman, yet he wore a plain black t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, and what appeared to be Crocs. His well-groomed, short beard remained unmoving, much like the rest of him, which made zero sense considering the suddenness of the chime that had just blasted through the air. What¡¯s going on here?*System Initiation of the Sol System confirmed. 1,000 Human Progenitors randomly chosen and confirmed. Tutorial introduction commencing¡­* Drew both saw and heard the mechanical words yet, despite hearing them, there was no origin. The man sitting at the desk remained unmoving. Additionally, the words had met his ears without any inflection of accent, gender, or anything else. Even the mechanical accent of them seemed subdued, watered down to some baseline verbal sound. Hearing voices in a dream was certainly a new concept that Drew hadn¡¯t experienced before, and he found himself unsettled. *DING!* *Welcome to the Tutorial Introduction, Drew Wright. * It was at this moment that the man sitting at the desk stood and beckoned Drew forward with one of his hands. Still cold, still needing to use the restroom, and very confused, Drew walked over to the man to seek comfort in some sense of normality. ¡°Welcome, Drew Wright,¡± the man said, nodding his head ever so slightly. ¡°Please, take a seat.¡± The man gestured to the open chair. ¡°You know my name?¡± Drew asked, the words croaking out as he sat down. He didn¡¯t know what was going on, but he needed answers, if for no other reason than to progress the dream further so he could wake up and finally relieve himself. Only the man¡¯s mouth moved. ¡°Of course, knowing you is part of my purpose. I am your guide for this basic introduction and tutorial of The System. You may call me Spock.¡± He showed no emotion at all, and it was almost as if he was acting on autopilot. His facial muscles stayed tightly controlled, and Drew couldn¡¯t get a feel for the guy at all. He felt mechanical. ¡°Did you say your name is Spock?¡± Drew asked, his eyebrow raised. ¡°That is correct,¡± the man replied, again with no unnecessary movement as he spoke. ¡°Cool freaking name, your parents must be pretty awesome,¡± Drew said with a smile on his face. Might as well make a friend in this strange dream. ¡°I don¡¯t have any parental figures,¡± Spock replied blankly. Drew clicked his teeth. ¡°Well, now I feel like an asshole. Sorry dude, my condolences.¡± Maybe something happened to his folks? ¡°Any chance you can tell me where I am, and what I¡¯m doing here then?¡± Drew asked. Spock nodded. ¡°That is the entire purpose of my existence. Please, answer one question of mine first before we go any further. Would you prefer the ¡®fast and easy¡¯ explanation or something more in-depth?¡± This time he gave the tiniest inclination of his head as if restraining his curiosity. Drew mulled it over for a second. He was about five seconds away from losing control of his bladder and the cold was really starting to get to him as his body had begun to uncontrollably shiver. He needed to get out of this dream as quickly as possible. ¡°Uh, the fast and easy option if you don¡¯t mind. Also, could you point me in the direct of the closest bathroo?¡± Drew began to say before a chime rang in his head again. *DING! * The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. *You have chosen the ¡°Fast and Easy option.¡± * Zzzzzapppp Drew¡¯s entire body seized up, locking all his muscles into extremely painful spasms. He couldn¡¯t even manage to scream, as his jaw, throat and mouth rebelled against his body¡¯s natural response and pain coursed through his body. His mind blanked as his entire existence seemed to boil and steam from the inside out. He didn¡¯t know how long he endured the excruciating sensation, but at some point, it suddenly stopped and his body finally relaxed. His mind spent several seconds processing what had just happened. One thing was certain, Drew never wanted to go through whatever that was again. His body felt weak, like it had been hit by a truck, and when he tried lifting himself up off the floor, where he¡¯d fallen from his seat, his arms trembled. That¡¯s when he noticed Spock leaning over to offer him a hand. His mind still reeling from what happened, Drew accepted the assistance as the man hefted him back into his chair. Spock walked back to his own chair before sitting down. That was when the aroma hit Drew¡¯s nostrils. The pungent smell of burnt hair and urine. He looked down at his boxers and found that he¡¯d pissed himself. Before Drew could process anything further, Spock spoke. ¡°I apologize for the pain you experienced, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said mechanically. ¡°You chose the fast and easy explanation, and although that experience was likely highly unpleasant, I would wager that your future self will be thankful for your choice.¡± His voice and words cut through Drew¡¯s mental fog. Drew found himself back in control, though feeling very weak. ¡°I pissed myself, dude. What the fuck was that?¡± He hissed as he rubbed his temples while glaring at the man sitting across from him. Spock began to speak as if off a script. ¡°You are not in a dream. You are not dead. These are the most common thought processes that sapient beings experience during the Tutorial Introduction. The pain you experienced was necessary to ensure you are in the correct state of mind for what follows.¡± His gaze bored into Drew. ¡°As you are likely aware, even if you have not yet processed it, dreams never contain any element of pain, nor smell. In the event there is pain, you are awoken immediately. Remaining here despite the pain, along with the other sensations previously mentioned is proof that this is waking reality.¡± Moments passed as the words sunk in. Spock was right. Dreams didn¡¯t contain smells of any kind. Drew looked down to his wet boxers, and felt them clinging to the skin of his thighs, before frowning. They definitely don¡¯t contain pain. Every time I¡¯ve gotten even a charlie horse in my sleep, I woke up in a panic immediately. But if this is all real then I¡¯ve been¡­ kidnapped? And I¡¯m hearing and reading weird announcements inside my own head. Not a great sign. His brows furrowed as he thought about his situation. ¡°This is real?¡± he asked, looking up to Spock for confirmation. ¡°Yes,¡± Spock answered in a perfect monotone. ¡°Why am I here, and not in my bed next to my wife?¡± Drew asked. ¡°I will answer any questions I¡¯m capable of answering,¡± Spock replied. ¡°But first, please be aware that the time you spend here is extremely limited. It will be to your personal detriment if you spend too much of your limited time asking questions. It could even mean your future death.¡± Again with the mechanical tone, is this guy really human? It¡¯s like he¡¯s emotionless, yet if all this is real, maybe he¡¯s got real answers. Unless I¡¯m actually drooling on the floor of a psyche ward right now¡­ ¡°Okay¡­ what am I doing here?¡± Drew asked cautiously. He didn¡¯t know what Spock meant by ¡®future death¡¯, but after the pain from earlier, he wasn¡¯t willing to risk too much. ¡°Life as you know it will end in seven days,¡± Spock answered bluntly. ¡°Huh, come again?¡± Drew asked, completely flabbergasted by the man¡¯s answer. ¡°Humanity, or rather the Humans of planet Earth were doomed to die in seven days,¡± Spock answered. ¡°I do not know the specific cause of this doom, as I¡¯ve only been given select information, but it is certain that your planet, and all living beings on it, would have died in the span of one week.¡± ¡°You said ¡®were¡¯ and ¡®would,¡¯ I assume that¡¯s no longer the case?¡± Drew asked, trying to hold back his panic. His current options were insanity or potential apocalypse. Nether were calming prospects. Wait¡­ why am I not panicking, that is definitely panic worthy¡­ Why haven¡¯t I had any attack¡ª Spock interrupted his thought. ¡°Correct. The System, which is something akin to an extremely powerful artificial intelligence program of unimaginable scope and scale, has intervened on your civilization¡¯s behalf. Unfortunately, this comes with several major negative consequences for your people. Survival of your species on this planet is not guaranteed.¡± Yet again the voice contained no emotions of any kind. ¡°What kind of consequences? And why would this AI program step in to save us, only to let us rot over something else?¡± Seriously, why am I not panicking? Usually, I¡¯d be a puddle on the floor right now just imagining these kinds of scenarios¡­ ¡°To expedite this conversation, and to save you precious time, allow me to explain,¡± Spock began. ¡°The System slowly expands throughout the multiverse, and it has limited abilities to interact with non-integrated space. To save your planet, and all living things on it, The System was forced to expend a large amount of energy to quickly integrate Earth. Doing so, floods a planet with an energy you would likely refer to as ¡®mana¡¯. The sudden influx of that much mana has side effects that are detrimental to a non-integrated civilization. In this case, the mana will rapidly mutate animals into ¡®mana-infused beasts¡¯. Additionally, your planet will begin to spawn what you would call ¡®monsters¡¯, which are natural mana-based lifeforms. Both the beasts, and the monsters are extremely dangerous, and will kill many people.¡± ¡°Holy shit¡­ you can¡¯t be serious?¡± Drew asked, his mouth hanging open. This was starting to sound too complex, too specific, to be the result of some kind of psychotic-break-induced madness. Spock didn¡¯t even acknowledge Drew¡¯s outburst. ¡°Finally, as was the case with many prior quickly integrated civilizations, most of your world¡¯s modern technology will cease functioning. I do not know the specific reasons why this happens, only that it does. The System has determined that most of Earth¡¯s weaponry, including most firearms, will be rendered useless. Electricity, the energy source your civilization relies on, will also no longer function. The System has concluded that technology and electricity should return to a usable state after a period of roughly one hundred years.¡± That¡¯s it. There''s no way my brain, sane or otherwise, came up with something like that. This is real. Drew gasped, taking in a deep breath. ¡°Well, how the hell are we supposed to survive then, man? Our guns won¡¯t work, our power grids are going to go down. Hell, our entire logistical system for food and goods is going to be screwed, and why am I not having a freaking panic attack about it?¡± ¡°The System is currently infusing your body with mana,¡± Spock replied. ¡°You will likely feel cold during this process. At the same time, it is stabilizing your brain chemistry to prevent erratic thoughts and behavior.¡± ¡°Hold up, are you saying The System is fixing my fucking panic and anxiety disorders?¡± Drew asked, slack jawed. ¡°Any health conditions will be repaired during this process, yes. As to your continued survival, your species will have access to The System itself.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand,¡± Drew said, blinking his eyes. ¡®The System¡¯ was going to fix his mental health. Something he¡¯d been dealing with for ten years, and it was doing it as a side effect. ¡°In layman¡¯s terms, your people will become capable of mana-infused progression,¡± Spock replied. ¡°Surviving combat scenarios will provide exponential growth in the form of increased physical and mental attributes, along with a selection of powerful abilities and what this planet would call ¡®magic¡¯. This progression is represented by levels and grades.¡± Drew felt his pulse sped up. ¡°So¡­ it¡¯ll be like a video game or a table top RPG? We kill bad things, we get XP, then we level up and get stronger¡­ because of the mana infusion?¡± he asked. He felt like he was grasping at straws to figure out what everything meant. He hated that feeling. ¡°Video games. Yes, I received data on this concept. That is an accurate assessment, Drew Wright,¡± Spock replied. ¡°And everyone will what, just get access to this magical leveling system and go out and fight monsters and shit?¡± Drew questioned skeptically. Honestly, it didn¡¯t sound too bad. Seriously what is going on with my brain? ¡°Yes¡­¡± Spock replied with a slight pause, shuffling his feet. ¡°Although you are a progenitor, one of one thousand randomly chosen human beings. The Progenitor program was created to give civilizations a slight advantage for survival. You will be integrated now, as will the rest of your peers. The remainder of your species will be integrated in seven days when The System is finished saturating your world with mana to avert catastrophe.¡± ¡°My family has to wait seven days?¡± Drew asked aghast. There was no point to any of this without his family, he¡¯d need to do everything possible to ensure their survival. ¡°At the conclusion of this Tutorial, you will be given five Tokens,¡± Spock replied again in his flat, mechanical drone. ¡°These may be given to any sapient lifeform you wish, and as long as they fully trust your words, they will undergo the same Tutorial as you, at any time prior to the integration of your planet. However, they will not be given any further Tokens.¡± Drew let out a sigh of relief. As long as he could convince his family what was going on, they¡¯d get their superpowers early. The question was, how would Drew manage to convince them without his wife and mom thinking he was completely insane? That thought tied his stomach in knots. But¡­ with five tokens¡­ I could help Mark and Miranda as well¡­ Drew firmed his resolve and prepared himself for anything. ¡°Alright, my curiosity isn¡¯t sated, but you said we have a limited amount of time here and if all this is true then I have people I need to protect. What comes next?¡± This is a ¡®tutorial¡¯ after all. Spock nodded. It was the closest the guy had showed to being pleased. It seemed like the dude liked efficiency. ¡°While every human will have the ability to acquire classes and professions, only Progenitors like yourself, and their Token holders have the opportunity to acquire a new race. Please be aware, you will be given three boons. These may be exchanged for certain abilities, races, and privileges. If you¡¯re ready, we may begin the race selection process at once.¡± ¡°I get to go through character creation?¡± Drew asked. A younger version of himself would be jumping with joy at the prospect. ¡°That is an accurate approximation, Drew Wright,¡± Spock replied. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this,¡± Drew said with a smile. Either he was insane, or the situation was. Either way, the magic in his brain was keeping the panic away and all that remained was pure excitement. I get to go through real-life character creation! *DING! * *Race and Class selection sequence commencing* Book 1 Ch. 2 Chapter 2 Drew¡¯s vision slowly faded as blackness grew from the corners of his vision and enclosed him. By the time he noticed what was going on, and turned to ask Spock, he found that he no longer had a voice. Or a head. Or anything that would respond to his desire to move. Despite thinking that he was moments away from having a very reasonable panic attack, it never came. A feeling of floating eventually made itself known to Drew, and a bright pillar of light erupted in his vision. ¡°Drew Wright, you have successfully been integrated into The System, Congratulations.¡± Spock¡¯s almost monotone voice called out from a place Drew couldn¡¯t see as his vision seemed to be locked on the white pillar of near-blinding light. ¡°Ah, my apologies. You may wish to converse, in order to do so, all you must do is direct your thoughts towards my voice,¡± Spock added in a near-apologetic tone. ¡°Spock, can you hear me man? I¡¯m blind as a fucking bat and all I see is blackness and a blinding light.¡± Drew sent out a thought experimentally. ¡°Affirmative, I can hear your thoughts, Drew Wright. Your soul is currently being held in stasis while The System loads up the species options available to you. Please bear with me for a moment,¡± Spock replied. ¡°Are you seriously putting me on hold after you said my freaking soul is being held in stasis? Not cool man, not cool.¡± Drew sent back, internally shaking his non-existent head. Unfortunately, no reply came and Drew was stuck in the cosmic equivalent of a loading screen, or being put on hold by customer service. If he still had a mouth, he would have been scowling. ¡°Thank you for your patience, The System will be activating a host of options within moments.¡± Spock broke the minutes-long silence. Drew felt a light tug upon his consciousness, or what he assumed to be his soul, and he was soon being forcefully pulled toward the light like some kind of bad after-death sequence in a movie. Upon entering the pillar, he found himself floating, or hovering in place in a room full of monsters. Not just monsters¡­ there are also fantasy beings in here! It was then that Drew realized that he could now float around and observe the many statue-like beings that formed rows within the white room. ¡°Drew Wright, you are now in the species selection sub-system,¡± Spock explained. ¡°Here, you may view any of the many races before you so choose one that best suits your desires. I am also available to answer any questions you might have regarding these races, however, please be aware that your time here is limited. If your time allotment is exceeded, you will be given random options and sent back to your planet.¡± Drew heard what the man had said, but he only half-processed it as he was busy zooming between all the different beings. They were lined up and waiting at attention, but they were unmoving, almost as if frozen in place. He zoomed over to a tall, lithe figure with long golden hair and pointed ears. It¡¯s a freaking Elf! Next to the Elf was a short, squat man that looked like he was built from pure muscle. He had a long, well-groomed, and braided beard, with almost beady eyes. It¡¯s a dwarf, and not the ¡®actually exists on earth¡¯ kind either, but a freaking epic fantasy, ¡®lives under the fucking mountain drinking beer and blacksmithing¡¯ Dwarf! Drew paused, something in the back of his mind was tugging at him as his brain finally processed something that Spock had said. ¡°Did you say I was on a time crunch of some kind?¡± Drew thought towards Spock. ¡°Indeed. You currently have twenty-two minutes to select a race, a class, and make use of your boons before being transported back to Earth.¡± Spock¡¯s voice echoed through the white room. ¡°Wait, what? That¡¯s no time at all!¡± Drew practically yelled back with his thoughts. ¡°My apologies, but I cannot extend the time allotment afforded to you. I recommend you make your selections with haste,¡± Spock replied. Great, I finally get to see fantasy races in the flesh and I don¡¯t even have time to ogle them before deciding what race to become. Drew grumbled internally before flashing forward to the next being. It was a machine of some kind. Plates of metal either covered its body, or fully comprised it, and it looked almost golem-like in appearance. Having no desire to become a tin can Drew moved to the next figure. A tiny, floating ball of light encompassed the body of what appeared to be a fairy. Butterfly-style wings sprang from its back, and overly large eyes adorned its face like some kind of bug. Nope, I¡¯m not going to be anyone¡¯s tinker-anything. Drew shook his head internally. There were hundreds of beings in this room, how was he supposed to figure out what he wanted to choose? ¡°Spock, there¡¯s too many choices here. Can you help me narrow them down somehow?¡± Drew asked desperately as he somehow felt the clock ticking down. ¡°Certainly, Drew Wright. How may I assist you?¡± Spock¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Yeah, so what¡¯s the difference between all these races here? Like I see an Elf and a Dwarf, but how are they different, what makes them special? What I mean to ask is this, is there something about the Elf that makes it superior to other races here, or any downsides¡­ that sort of thing.¡± Drew questioned quickly. ¡°Elves come in many varieties; however, each sub-race has an intrinsic knowledge of mana and magic,¡± Spock answered in a very educational tone.¡± They have an easier time manipulating spells, and modifying them. Additionally, they are agile and extremely long-lived. At your current Grade, you could expect to live to about a thousand years old before dying naturally. Their downsides, as you say, would be that they do not have a high natural constitution or toughness, and thus, are frailer than the Dwarves you mentioned.¡± ¡°Great, so there are differences then. Pros and cons, etc. If I give you some qualities I¡¯m interested in, can you help me filter some of these choices to save time?¡± Drew asked. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Certainly, Drew Wright. What are your requirements?¡± Spock asked. There was a quaver to his voice that almost sounded like inflection or interest. Wow, calm down buddy. Drew already knew one thing that he wouldn¡¯t take for granted, something that he wanted more than anything else. It was an absolute necessity for him to survive the coming apocalypse and collapse of society, and without it, he¡¯d be screwed. ¡°I¡¯d like a race that is immune to mental illness of any kind. I currently suffer from a major anxiety disorder which can be crippling at the worst of times. I never want to experience that again. Ever. Also, it¡¯d be great if the race dealt with mental and emotional trauma well. I assume there¡¯s going to be a lot of death and dark shit, and I don¡¯t want to break because of the things I see,¡± Drew replied resolutely. For him, this was a must even if he had to forgo becoming a badass Dwarf or a near-immortal Elf. Spock replied immediately. ¡°Understood. As a side note, all mental and physical illness will be healed upon System Integration, however, this doesn¡¯t prevent further, non-genetic related damage from occurring afterward from new trauma. I can guide you to a race that will be more resilient to such trauma. Adjusting parameters now.¡± Wait¡­ everyone is going to be healed? Like¡­ cancer, dementia¡­ paralysis? Holy shit¡­ ¡°Parameters adjusted.¡± Spock¡¯s voice rang out as the hundreds of statue-like beings disappeared in a flash, leaving only a handful left. The first, and closest to Drew¡¯s field of vision was the machine man. ¡°I also don¡¯t want to be a machine of any kind. I¡¯d prefer flesh and blood. I¡¯d like to remain looking as human as possible, and it¡¯d be cool if I lived a long time. Oh! If any of them can see decently in the dark that would be great too¡­ I assume bad shit is going to happen at night time.¡± Drew quickly added. ¡°Understood, please wait one moment,¡± Spock responded. Living in a rural area for the last few years had taught Drew one thing. Critters came out at night, and some of them were not friendly. Coyotes weren¡¯t too bad as long as they weren¡¯t starving, but bobcats were real assholes. He¡¯d been attacked by one near dusk when he wasn¡¯t paying attention. Thankfully, it had been a young one and Drew had managed to scare it off by screaming and throwing a tree branch at it, but if monsters and magically infused beasts were going to become the new reality, he wanted to be able to see in the darkness to defend himself and his family. ¡°I have one race that meets all your requirements; however, it is not one that is normally chosen upon newly integrated worlds,¡± Spock replied after a pause. ¡°Oh, why¡¯s that?¡± Drew questioned. ¡°Selecting it as your new race requires the use of one of your boons,¡± Spock answered bluntly. ¡°Is that a bad thing?¡± Drew asked. ¡°Not necessarily, Drew Wright,¡± Spock replied. ¡°Boons may be used to select advantages for Progenitors and their token holders. For some, this means a race with greater stat growth potential such as the one in question, other times, boons are used to select additional or advanced abilities, or starting equipment. Boons may be used for almost anything, as long as it generates a minor to moderate advantage to survival.¡± ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s like feats or talent points. Yeah, go ahead and show me the race,¡± Drew replied. If he could have shrugged, he would have. If a race had everything he wanted, then he would personally consider that an advantage. A flash of light flared and when it cleared, a single figure stood in front of Drew¡¯s hovering position. It was lithe, like an elf, but had extremely pale skin to the point that Drew was surprised that he couldn¡¯t see any veins poking out. Its features were handsome, but gaunt, as if it lived a hard life with little food, yet it was still well-muscled, but not in a body builder way. It appeared almost human, if it wasn¡¯t for the short-pointed ears. ¡°What am I looking at here, Spock?¡± Drew asked. ¡°To inspect something, focus your sight upon it and allow your desire to learn its truths flow through you,¡± Spock replied. Drew didn¡¯t have eyes to squint, but he imagined himself focusing upon the figure in front of him and wondering what the hell it was, and he focused on that thought with intensity. Within a second, a box of text popped up within his field of vision. Race: Dhampir (Rank-F) Historically a rather rare race in the vast multiverse, the Dhampir are produced from the union of a mortal such as an Elf or Human, and of a Vampire. Vampires very seldom choose to reproduce in this manner, as most of their kind consider it distasteful to do so. The outward appearance of the Dhampir is varied and dependent upon the mortal parent. Common themes are pale skin, black or gray-white hair and a strong, yet agile figure. Like the Vampire parent, Dhampir are effectively immortal from birth, and quickly stop aging upon reaching peak physical maturity. Dhampir are extremely resistant to any kind of mind suppression or mental trauma, and have an extremely heightened regenerative anatomy. They are born with the passive skill [Darkvision] which allows for excellent visual sense in lowlight environments. Additionally, they are resistant to poison and corruptive effects. Dhampir may consume either food or blood for sustenance, however blood will also increase regenerative effects of both health and stamina. Per Level Bonus Attributes: +1 STR, +2 VIT, +2 END, +2 TGH, +1 AGI, +1 PCT, +1 Will Requirements to select: 1 Boon Drew stared at the wall of text for several moments while reading over the description of the species in front of him, but his brows furrowed as he considered several points The System had mentioned. ¡°Do you have any questions, Drew Wright?¡± Spock queried. ¡°Actually, yeah. So, I have a wife, and we uh¡­ haven¡¯t had any kids yet. Would this race lock me out of having children? I mean, Vampires are kind of undead right?¡± Drew asked. ¡°If your wife is of Human, Elven, or Dwarven descent, then yes, you may reproduce should you so choose,¡± Spock answered flatly. Drew let out an internal sigh of relief. He¡¯d hate to give up this race, but if it meant he could never have kids with Amber he¡¯d have chosen something else in a heartbeat. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t come to that. ¡°Time is running out, Drew Wright. Please keep in mind that you also need to select a mortal parent to base the Dhampir on. If you still wish to resemble a human, I¡¯d recommend choosing either that option, or an Elf,¡± Spock said helpfully. ¡°Do humans have any pros and cons to them like the Elves do?¡± Drew asked. ¡°Humans have no negative nor any positive bonuses or traits inherent to their species. Compared to Elves, they have slightly higher base constitution and toughness, but they lack the Elves superior agility and intrinsic understanding of magic. As a Dhampir, you will have Darkvision regardless of the mortal parent you choose.¡± Spock said in his ¡®school teacher¡¯ voice. Alright, so if that¡¯s the case I think I¡¯ll go with the Elf parent. If using a token is reliant upon a person trusting me completely as Spock said earlier, then my only option is to go the magic route. If I¡¯m going to look different, then the only chance I have at convincing my wife and mom of what is happening, is showing off some magic spells. I doubt a strength build would have the same wow factor that could give credence to what I say is true. ¡°Okay, last question¡­ am I going to look like this guy specifically, or can I change some things around?¡± Drew asked as he eyeballed the almost overly-gaunt figure. He really would prefer to look a bit more human. He could live with the ears if he had longer hair, but he also didn¡¯t want to look so¡­ starved. ¡°Indeed, any race you choose may be customized within acceptable parameters.¡± Spock¡¯s voice echoed throughout the room as Drew viewed the figure in front of him. This is going to be a biiig change¡­ ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll choose this race then.¡± Drew sent the thought to Spock. ¡°Excellent, please standby. Also, please note that you have twelve minutes remaining. As the customization options load, I recommend you already having an image of what you¡¯d like to look like in mind.¡± Right. New look. He had never been ugly per se, but Drew was fairly certain that everyone had aspects of their appearance that they disliked. If he was to do the bare minimum, he¡¯d get rid of the gut that he¡¯d grown since hitting his thirties. His torso was also a bit long, while his legs were a bit short, and his face¡­ Spock coughed pointedly and tapped his wrist. Shit, I nearly forgot about the time limit¡­ no time to play The Sims, I need someone¡¯s form I can copy¡­ and quickly. I need to already have an existing template, an already near-perfect image in my head to work off so I can get to the part where I choose a class and spend my remaining boons. The question is, who do I model myself after? Lucky, I watch a bit of TV¡­ Book 1 Ch. 3 Chapter 3 ¡°Drew Wright, you are now able to customize your appearance. To do so, focus on which aspects you¡¯d like to change while having a solid image in your mind.¡± Spock¡¯s voice rang out through the void. ¡°I would like to remind you that this will have little functional impact on your survival chances and there is little time remaining.¡± ¡°I am well aware Spock,¡± Drew sent back mentally. With a clear image fully in mind, Drew focused on willing the Dhampir statue in front of him to change. The statue quickly morphed and reformed as the facial muscles realigned. After the face, the rest of the body quickly changed as well. Drew was now looking at an almost perfect recreation of his chosen celebrity inspiration. Strong jawline, white-grey hair, masculine facial structure, and muscular physique. The ears remained pointed, but were closer in line with his template. This must have been what Spock was talking about when he mentioned parameters. Dhampirs had to have pointed ears apparently. The figure was already dashingly handsome, but Drew decided to make some very quick minor changes. The ab muscles quickly shifted and became more pronounced and defined, and v-lines were added to give the figure a more sculpted look. As Drew¡¯s eyes shifted to the belt line, he noticed that the figure in front of him was now fully nude, and with that realization, a smirk crossed Drew¡¯s non-existent face. No one would blame me, right? Every dude wishes for a little something more¡­ Fuck it, I¡¯ll do it. Ohhh Mr. Winkie, it¡¯s time for a face lift, my friend! Things quickly shifted and grew, and before long, Drew decided he needed to dial things back just a tad. Once it was dialed back to something reasonable and no longer resembling an appendage belonging to a horse, Drew decided he was finished. It had been a rather rushed process, but the use of a mental template had sped things significantly. He wondered how many people would end up with awful classes and abilities because they lost themselves in sculpting the perfect version of themselves. ¡°Hey Spock, I think I¡¯m finished with customizing my new body,¡± Drew sent telepathically. ¡°Understood, Drew Wright. The System will now integrate your soul with your new body. This will take a moment, and your time allotment will be paused while this happens,¡± Spock said with a slight twinge in his voice that Drew was unable to recognize. ¡°Okay, sounds good man. So now we¡¯re going to class selection, right?¡± Drew asked. ¡°That is correct, Drew Wright. As we wait, I do have a question of my own if you would indulge me¡­¡± Spock let the statement hang in the air for a moment. Drew shrugged his shoulders internally, Spock hadn¡¯t asked him for anything before, and he had been extremely helpful throughout this whole process, why shouldn¡¯t Drew repay the favor? ¡°Sure man, what¡¯s your question?¡± Drew sent back as he waited for his new body. ¡°For what reason did you increase the size of the penis? I am unaware of any aesthetic or potential combat advantage it would give you,¡± Spock asked in what Drew could only take as an almost child-like innocence and curiosity. ¡°Uhhh¡­ I didn¡¯t know you could see that. Well, it¡¯s like this¡­ wait a minute¡­ how do you not know something like that?¡± Drew said as his internal thoughts meshed with his telepathic dialogue. From all appearances, Spock looked like a regular human dude. Sure, he spoke robotically, but there was sweat on his brow and his chest rose and fell as he breathed. He felt human. If a bit odd. ¡°When I was created, The System only included knowledge that it deemed prevalent and necessary to assist you as Progenitor,¡± Spock explained almost sadly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I lack all information outside of what was given to me and what I¡¯ve learned during our brief interaction.¡± ¡°Created? What do you mean created? Are you a robot?¡± Drew asked quickly. ¡°I am entirely organic, I assure you. The System created me in order to specifically interact with you, Drew Wright. I have no parents, other than The System. Prior to your arrival here, I did not exist,¡± Spock answered. ¡°Are you telling me that The System grew you, a living breathing human, from nothing, and downloaded a bunch of crap into your brain?¡± Drew asked, his mouth falling open. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That is an overly simplified approximation of what occurred, yes,¡± Spock replied. Drew¡¯s very soul shuddered as he began to have a sinking feeling deep within his being. ¡°And you were created specifically for me, and not other progenitors?¡± Drew asked cautiously. ¡°That is correct,¡± Spock answered affirmatively. ¡°As you were unintegrated upon your arrival, I was given the information to speak your native language and interact with you using basic mannerisms. I was created to appear approachable and non-threatening.¡± The sinking feeling within Drew grew stronger and he really hoped that the conclusion that was forming in his head was incorrect, but curiosity won out and Drew decided to ask. ¡°And... what happens to you when I leave to go back to Earth?¡± Drew asked slowly. ¡°My body will be terminated and rendered into a renewable energy that The System will recycle to create future System Guides to aid other progenitors,¡± Spock answered, and for the briefest moment, Drew could hear a slight hollowness in his voice. Drew¡¯s vision went dark for a brief moment after hearing Spock¡¯s response, and the floating sensation he had felt for the last several minutes vanished as a great suction pulled at his being. Before Drew had a chance to ask what was going on or to freak out, he was blinking his eyes. Wait¡­ I have eyes? Water rolled down his cheeks as the sudden brightness of the room he was in caused Drew to tear up. Instinctively, he reached up with his hand to brush away the tears and rub his eyes, and that¡¯s when it occurred to him that he was in a body again. As his eyes became accustomed to the environment, his vision became clearer and Drew turned his head to look around. He was back in the original white room, with Spock sitting behind his desk. Drew held his hands out in front of him and noticed he looked different. He felt different. He turned his hands over. He didn¡¯t recognize them. This is definitely the new body. Drew thought to himself as he looked down and saw that the distinctive gut that he¡¯d come to hate was gone. In its place was a sculpted six-pack. Drew looked around the room and noticed that the boxers that his old body had been wearing were alone on the floor, and as he was still very much nude in his new body. Drew decided he would rather have boxers on than nothing at all. As he pulled his old boxers onto his new body, the conversation he¡¯d been having with Spock snapped forward in his mind. Drew¡¯s stomach turned and he felt a large knot of stress and guilt wrap around his insides. He turned to look at Spock, who was sitting at his desk. The man¡¯s eyes were empty, as if he was just going through the motions of life. Yet somewhere deep down past the System-implanted knowledge, Drew knew that Spock must be feeling a huge amount of fear and sadness. The man wasn¡¯t even thirty minutes old, he hadn¡¯t gotten to live any kind of real life, and the moment Drew left this place, he would be killed. The man hadn¡¯t displayed much emotion in their short time together. But he had shown curiosity. He seemed to enjoy questions and new information. Which made a lot more sense now that Drew knew he had been ¡®created¡¯ with huge gaps in his mind. Spock had knowledge of so many things, yet he never learned any of it himself. He never felt the breeze blow across his face, or the sun¡¯s rays on his skin. He¡¯d never have a beer, nor friends with which to share it. His voice was mechanical because he¡¯d never heard others speak, or had the chance to develop his own tone. He¡¯d never gotten the chance to live. Drew knew that his time to choose a class was limited, but warring emotions raged within his heart as he looked at the man behind the desk. If Drew did nothing, this man would die, and while it wouldn¡¯t be Drew¡¯s fault, he also knew that if he stood idly by knowing the man would die without his assistance, it would haunt him for the rest of his days. He wasn¡¯t a good man, he didn¡¯t always make the right calls, and in most instances, Drew would consider himself to be selfish. But in this one instance, he could make a difference. Drew firmed his resolve as he pressed his lips together and walked towards the desk. ¡°Welcome back, Drew Wright. I hope your new body is to your liking. Your current time allotment is just over eight minutes, we may now move on to class selection,¡± Spock said in a near-emotionless manner. Drew walked right up the edge of Spock¡¯s desk and looked the man in the eyes. ¡°I¡¯d like to spend a boon,¡± Drew said firmly. Spock¡¯s left eyebrow raised ever so slightly before he quickly corrected it. ¡°What advantage do you wish to spend a boon on?¡± Spock asked with genuine curiosity. Drew¡¯s mind raced several miles per second as he tried to find the right words. Eventually, something clicked in his mind and he responded. ¡°I wish for System Guide Spock to not be recycled at the end of this tutorial but to become my traveling companion on Earth, so he may help fill in my gaps of knowledge. Also, so he can share that same knowledge with my friends and family to prepare for the integration of The System.¡± Both of Spock¡¯s eyebrows shot toward his hairline as his eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, he was interrupted as a small box of floating text entered both his and Drew¡¯s vision. Request Received¡­ Request Granted Boon allocated towards additional progenitor token Additional Token immediately granted to System Guide Spock Note: Token generation is resource intensive and thus limited to progenitors. One additional token may be generated per Progenitor. Boon-generated tokens will only grant immediate integration and basic gear for the token holder.. Drew read through the message quickly before a light smile crested the corner of his mouth and he looked towards his new companion. Spock¡¯s eyes darted back and forth, reading, and then rereading the System message before finally snapping up to make eye contact with Drew. ¡°¡­Thank you,¡± Spock said in barely a whisper as a tear rolled down his cheek. Book 1 Ch. 4 Chapter 4 Drew watched as tears continued to roll down the face of the man in front of him, and as much as Drew knew he¡¯d done a good thing, both for his survival and for Spock, time was ticking fast. He was running out of time. As much as he wanted to give the man the time he needed to process his newfound freedom of life, Drew needed to figure shit out, and quickly. ¡°Spock, we need to do the class selection, we¡¯re running out of time, right?¡± Drew asked hurriedly. Spock blinked his eyes and his gaze quickly refocused, most likely coming to the same realization that Drew had. ¡°You¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I was not prepared for the eventuality of making my own selections. We have less than six minutes remaining.¡± Spock¡¯s gaze shifted before turning back to Drew. ¡°Alright, what do we need to do?¡± Drew asked impatiently. ¡°There¡¯s too much information, and not enough time, Drew Wright.¡± Spock shook his head, overwhelmed. ¡°Then give me the abridged version. Every second counts here, man,¡± Drew replied, rolling his hand in a gesture meant to speed along the process. Spock stared at him for several long seconds, and for a moment, Drew feared that he¡¯d broken the man. Spock rallied. ¡°We need to select our starting classes. As we level up and hit specific milestones, we will be granted the opportunity to evolve or change classes to better suit our needs. Each starting class has skills associated with it, to begin with. Additional skills can be purchased using a¡­ boon.¡± Spock paused as he said the last word, tensing up slightly. ¡°Great. Are there any magic starting classes? That¡¯s what I believe I¡¯d like to focus on,¡± Drew said, remembering that he needed to convince his wife and mother that The System was coming and with it, an impending apocalypse. Magic is the only way I can show them that I¡¯m not a crazy person. If I can sling some spells around, they¡¯ll know for certain that something isn¡¯t right and that there¡¯s a possibility that I¡¯m telling the truth. ¡°Yes, there are two magic-based classes. Just focus on your desire and The System will relay the information,¡± Spock answered quickly. Drew closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he attempted to focus on the idea of a spellcaster or mage in his mind. Boxes of text appeared behind his closed eyes, and he opened them to focus on the information. Caster A basic starting class that focuses on magical combat. Casters favor mental stat attributes over physical ones. This class is wide in scope and not yet specialized in any school of magic. Caster¡¯s starting skills lack any defensive options; however, they may be obtained later as experience is gained. Casters are well-known for using destructive and powerful spells but can lack resiliency at early levels. Per level bonus attributes: +1 PCT, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 WIL, +2 Free points Neophyte A basic starting class that focuses on the support, defense, and healing of themselves and others. Neophytes are most well-known for removing afflictions, healing injuries, and casting supportive buff spells to bolster their ally¡¯s strength. Neophyte¡¯s starting skills lack any offensive capabilities; however, they may be obtained later as experience is gained. Per level bonus attributes: +1 PCT, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 WIL, +2 Free points. Huh, after the huge number of races that were available for selection, I¡¯m a bit surprised that the starting classes are so¡­ vanilla. Looks like it comes down to whether I want to be a healer or a mage. Which, isn¡¯t even a real question for me. Caster class selected Please select up to three additional starting skills in exchange for your final boon. If three skills are not selected, basic starting equipment will be provided in their stead. Drew¡¯s eyes opened wide as a ridiculously massive list of skills and spells blotted out his vision. The list was so long that it would put phonebooks and dictionaries to shame, and Drew felt completely overwhelmed by the number of available options. ¡°Hey Spock, I¡¯ve got a fucking massive list of skills in front of me, is there any way to narrow them down at all?¡± Drew asked with just a hint of excitement and nervousness in his voice. ¡°Certainly, Drew Wright. You may filter your options by focusing on your desires. The System can be quite intuitive,¡± Spock answered, his tone slightly distracted. He was likely going through his own options as he answered Drew¡¯s question. Okay¡­ what do I need? Hmm¡­ Alert! Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon. Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Three minutes. Three minutes?! Fuckkk. Okay, think Drew, think. What the hell do I need? The class information said I lack any kind of starting defensive skills, so I definitely need that. If the class is completely focused on mental attributes, and they work like they do in games, then I need a magic-based spell or shield of some kind. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The list narrowed down until several options were flashing in front of him. Normally, he¡¯d take the time to read each one individually and choose the one that suited him the most, but right now he was almost out of time, so Drew quickly browsed by the title of the skill only. After moving through the list, his eyes settled on one and with a thought, he pulled it up. Mana Shield (Grade ¨C Inferior) Usage of this spell grants a thin shield of glowing mana around the caster. This shield is weightless and will not encumber agility or spellcasting prowess. As minor damage is incurred against the shield, a caster¡¯s MP will drain at a 1:1 ratio until either the caster¡¯s MP is depleted, or the spell is cancelled. Excess damage past the caster¡¯s MP will transfer over to HP. This is a staple defensive spell for most casters. Okay, cool. I¡¯ll select that. It¡¯s easy, simple, and sounds like it¡¯s pretty hard to fuck up. Next¡­ what do I need after that? Well, it¡¯s only my wife and my mom living with me, and I guess Spock will be a house guest, which isn¡¯t a lot of people. I¡¯m pretty confident we could handle a monster or two, but if we get stuck fighting a bunch, then we¡¯re probably fucked. So, how do I remedy that? I have other tokens, and I might be able to convince Mark and Miranda to come over before doomsday hits, but that¡¯s still only six people in total. We live in the middle of freaking nowhere, and there¡¯s no major cities within thirty minutes of us, which means we need to be self-sufficient ¨C and we need to bolster our numbers. Is there an option to make golems or summon familiars or something? The list of abilities reshuffled and three skills were blinking at him. After reading the titles of the skills, Drew scowled. The titles didn¡¯t give enough information. He knew he was running out of time, but this was one area that he couldn¡¯t afford to skimp on. Drew focused on the skills to bring up their information Summon Imp (Grade ¨C Inferior) Imps are small demonic creatures. Despite their diminutive size they possess great intelligence. Imps are capable of casting the emberbolt spell as well as supportive magic that can boost their summoner¡¯s HP slightly. Imps are physically weak, and some caution is advised when working with them as casters with weaker mental attribute points may find themselves serving the Imp¡¯s purposes rather than their own. Magical Reagents are necessary to perform the summoning ritual to allow Imps to cross dimensional planes. Well that one is out for obvious freaking reasons. I need something I can rely on to fight off monsters, I don¡¯t want to be looking my shoulder and expecting betrayal at any given moment. Plus, it requires magical reagents, and I sure as shit don¡¯t have access to those yet. Summon Shadowhawk (Grade ¨C Inferior) Shadowhawks are small avian creatures with a strong natural affinity toward shadow. Natural instinct drives the motivation and actions of these creatures unless their summoner has given them direct orders. Shadowhawks are often used for scouting or as diversions as they are physically weak and lack offensive magical abilities. That sucks, they sounded so cool too. But if they¡¯re worthless in combat, then there¡¯s no point in even getting them. Unfortunately, that leaves me with only one option and I really hope it¡¯s not as bad as it sounds. Raise Dead (Grade ¨C Inferior) A staple spell for practitioners of the magical school of necromancery. Raise dead allows the caster to utilize and repurpose any corpse to create a servant, commonly known as a minion. Contrary to popular belief, the Raise Dead spell does not summon or bind the original corpse''s soul to their body, but rather creates an unliving servant that follows their summoner¡¯s every command. Undead minions may be given commands either verbally or telepathically as a mental connection exists between them and their summoner. Minions are flexible and may fill the role of either manual labor or combat summon. Alright, it wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought. I really didn¡¯t relish the thought of bringing poor Mrs. Presly back from the grave. She had a hard enough life. It sounds like they¡¯re more like undead golems than anything else. On the bright side, the spell doesn¡¯t require magical reagents of any kind. Downside being¡­ well, corpses. Just being able to use them for manual labor will make them invaluable. Birds don¡¯t have opposable thumbs ¨C undead can build and fight. Plus, unquestioning loyalty, unlike imps. Still, I will need actual¡­ corpses¡­ Should I take this or try to filter the skill list to allow for options? Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: One minute. Well, looks like I¡¯m going with raise dead. ¡°Hey Spock, we¡¯re almost out of time! Does the caster class get a direct damage spell when it starts off?¡± Drew asked as quickly as he could. ¡°Indeed, Drew Wright.¡± Fantastic, then I just need something I can use to support my future undead minions. What kind of spells do people have in games when they have undead summons? Ah, some kind of damage over time ability right? That would work, I can weaken monsters as the minions hold the bad guys off and then I can throw whatever direct damage spell I have at them. Come on list of skills, work your magic! The list reshuffled, and Drew was about to take a look through all the names when a System Message came through. Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Thirty seconds. Shit, no time. Uh¡­ Uh... Drew looked around the list frantically before choosing one that looked promising. Corruption (Grade ¨C Inferior) A Devasting spell that deals damage over time to targets. Damage starts low, and then ramps up as the spell progresses, often ending in horrific displays of internal and external damage done to the target. Corruption is non-intrusive and thus many targets never know when they¡¯ve been inflicted this insidious spell prior to seeing its obvious outward effects. Corruption may be cast instantly for a slight mana cost increase. The hell? There¡¯s gotta be something a bit less¡­ gruesome. Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Five seconds. Umm¡­ filter by damage over time abilities that don¡¯t sound like a war crime! Four seconds. The list began to reshuffle. Three seconds. Fuck it there¡¯s no time! I pick the bubonic plague one. Wrap it up! Two seconds. Drew¡¯s eyes opened wide as he suddenly remembered something very, very important. One second. ¡°Spock, be super quiet when we get there! Don¡¯t say a w¡ª¡± Drew managed to yell out before his vision went black. Book 1 Ch. 5 Chapter 5 Pop! Drew was instantly alert as he found himself lying back in his bed. His head snapped to the right and he breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw his wife, Amber, snoring away. His eyes seemed to shift slightly, and Drew somehow knew that his bedroom was still very dark, and yet he could see as clearly as if it was day. Before he had a chance to marvel at the revelation, there was a sound from above. Pop! Spock appeared directly above him, nearly a foot in the air before dropping like a sack of bricks onto Drew¡¯s body. ¡°Ummf!¡± Drew let out a muffled groan as the air was forced from his lungs. Silence¡­ Drew turned his head ever so slowly back to the right and found that Amber had stopped snoring, and was shifting around. If she woke up right now, she¡¯d find two strange men in her bed, with no sign of her husband. Knowing that she kept a loaded handgun in her nightstand, Drew made every effort to remain perfectly quiet. After several nerve-wracking minutes, Amber¡¯s snoring picked back up and Drew let out an internal sigh of relief. Carefully, oh so carefully, Drew maneuvered Spock off of his body and made sure that his feet touched the floor to the side of the bed before he slowly let him go. Drew inched his way out of the bed, slipping out of the sheets and covers before quickly grabbing Spock¡¯s hand and dragging him out of his bedroom as he tip-toed out the door before quietly closing it. Now in the living room of his house proper, Drew noticed that his vision had adjusted and his body must have been using his new [Darkvision] passive skill. He glanced back toward Spock, who was squinting comically, and realized that his new companion wasn¡¯t gifted with the same ability. He grabbed Spock¡¯s hand once again before leading him out of the living room, through the kitchen, and quickly out the backdoor. Once he made it to the backyard porch, Drew¡¯s stomach, which had been turning in knots the whole time, finally settled down. ¡°Can you see alright?¡± Drew asked in a whisper to Spock. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said in a perfectly normal voice. It is surprising how loud a ¡®perfectly normal¡¯ volume voice sounds in the pitch darkness of pre-dawn. Drew flinched before freezing to listen in case anyone in the house had heard the voice. After a minute passed, the tension Drew had felt dropped. He spoke again to Spock, this time more carefully. ¡°You need to whisper, my wife and mother are sleeping, and we have guns in the house. Follow me, quietly.¡± Drew instructed in as low of a tone as he could manage while still remaining audible. Drew thought he was home free once he made it to the side gate of his backyard with Spock in tow, however as he cracked open the gate there was a small creak¡­ ¡°BOOF!¡± ¡°BOOF!¡± Drew waved Spock through the gate as quickly as possible before shutting it. After a few tense moments, the barking stopped. Drew watched the house for lights flicking on, but none did. That damn German Shepherd almost gave me a heart attack! She¡¯ll run up to strangers and the UPS guy without so much as a growl, but if a fucking mouse farts in the middle of the night, she wakes the whole damn house. Fat lot of use it does, the number of times she¡¯s cried wolf her barks might as well be white noise¡­ Though, to be fair, I guess there are technically intruders this time. Good dog. It was still nighttime outside, and thus pretty dark, but the light of the moon made things more visible and Spock was now able to keep up as Drew waved at the man to follow him. He lived out in the country, as rural as rural could get, so he wasn¡¯t too terribly concerned over the possibility of any neighbors seeing him, as the nearest one lived nearly half a mile away. Drew¡¯s heart was pounding by the time they made it to the destination that he had in mind. ¡°What is the purpose of this structure?¡± Spock whispered poorly to Drew. ¡°It¡¯s a chicken coop, Spock. We should be safe to speak normally here,¡± Drew said as he shook his head. Spock eyed the shed-sized structure covered in chicken wire with curiosity, and Drew sighed as he realized that his new companion likely didn¡¯t even know what chickens were. ¡°It houses chickens, Spock. They¡¯re a type of animal that we use for eggs and meat. These birds are just layers, so we collect their eggs every other day so we have fresh food. Although¡­ if doomsday is coming, we may want to pick up a bunch more to add to the flock.¡± ¡°Are these chickens vicious?¡± Spock asked cautiously. ¡°Uhh¡­ no.¡± Drew shook his head. ¡°Ours aren¡¯t anyways. They¡¯re kinda aloof and standoffish. They might peck your foot or something, but it wouldn¡¯t be due to malice or any desire to eat you.¡± Drew shrugged. ¡°Interesting. I would very much like to see these chickens, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said as he turned to face Drew. ¡°Alright, yeah that¡¯s fine. Just wait until the sun starts to come up. They¡¯ll be roosting right now,¡± Drew said as he waved Spock off. ¡°Roosting?¡± Spock asked. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, this man really doesn¡¯t have any basic knowledge. Patience Drew, it¡¯s not his fault. He wasn¡¯t even born yesterday, he¡¯s not even an hour old yet. Does that mean I just adopted an adult-sized child? ¡­Fuck. ¡°Sleeping, they¡¯re sleeping Spock,¡± Drew said with a sigh. ¡°I see. There was a person sleeping next to us when we appeared here as well,¡± Spock mentioned, as if revealing a particularly interesting factoid. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my wife, Amber. She¡¯s cute as a button, but twice as deadly.¡± Drew cautioned. Spock was silent for several moments as if considering Drew''s words. ¡°How would a button be deadly?¡± Drew sighed, halfway knowing what his day was going to be like. ¡°Because you can choke on them, Spock,¡± he answered, trying to remain patient. ¡°Why would¡­¡± Spock began. ¡°Enough man. Just chill for a minute,¡± Drew said, cutting Spock off. ¡°I know this is all new for you, and I¡¯m happy that you get to experience it all, but I need some questions answered about our new situation, and then I need to think about what we¡¯re going to do, okay?¡± Spock quickly straightened his back and nodded his head. ¡°Okay, we didn¡¯t have a lot of time during that tutorial, so I need to know the basics beyond what you were able to tell me,¡± Drew said after gathering his thoughts. ¡°What do you wish to know?¡± Spock asked in a serious tone. His innate curiosity had evaporated, replaced by the mechanical tone that Drew was used to. ¡°Eventually, I¡¯d like to know everything, but for now I¡¯ll settle for information about leveling up, using my abilities, and stuff about those monsters and beasts you mentioned,¡± Drew answered. Stolen novel; please report. Spock paused for several moments as he considered Drew¡¯s request for information. Likely to figure out the best way to phrase everything, as Drew had asked for a lot of information all at once. ¡°The infusion of mana will begin once System integration is complete, roughly seven days from now. It is then that monsters will begin to spawn and beasts will begin to mutate from the natural wildlife present in the surrounding environment. Until that moment, I recommend that we prepare ourselves,¡± Spock began. ¡°When you say that they will begin to spawn and mutate, am I to assume that means that we will only have to deal with a limited number of potential enemies for a while?¡± Drew interrupted. ¡°Incorrect.¡± Spock shook his head. ¡°While it is possible that the number of creatures you have to face may be limited, in most cases the opposite is true. The sheer volume of mana that will be used to infuse your planet for integration to prevent catastrophe will likely cause rapid mutation to occur, along with the spawning of hordes of monsters.¡± ¡°Fuck. So, it¡¯s totally possible that we¡¯ll be facing off against packs of the things the moment The System hits the Earth?¡± Drew asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°Possible and likely, yes,¡± Spock replied. ¡°So, there¡¯s no chance we can level up slowly and somewhat safely before dealing with swarms of nasty critters?¡± Drew asked as he wanted clarification. ¡°That is incorrect. We, as token holders, are already integrated with The System, so we may level up at any time,¡± Spock replied in an upbeat tone. Drew paused to consider the man¡¯s words. How was that possible? They didn¡¯t have any monsters to kill for experience points, how would they level up? ¡°How can we level up then?¡± Drew asked. ¡°By joining in battle against the native wildlife,¡± Spock answered in a matter-of-fact tone. ¡°Though the experience they provide will be limited.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me that we have to go out and kill a million boars to level up.¡± Drew groaned as he rubbed his temples. If he had to grind unintegrated animals, leveling up would take forever. Spock cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go out and kill a million boars to level up,¡± Spock replied happily. ¡°Did you just say that because I asked you to?¡± Drew asked cautiously. ¡°Yes,¡± Spock said with a slight nod. ¡°Ughhh.¡± Drew groaned again before slumping onto the ground. ¡°Leveling up in this manner will be inefficient, and we will likely only gain a few levels at most. However, the attribute bonuses from the level-ups will be greatly beneficial to us,¡± Spock added after a moment. ¡°Yeah, I saw stuff about the attributes when selecting my race and class. Is there any way to view that information?¡± ¡°Indeed, Drew Wright. Simply focus on the word, status, and it will be made available for your viewing.¡± So, it really is like a game¡­ well at least I have a bit of experience so I shouldn¡¯t be completely moronic in any choices¡­ probably¡­ Alright then, Status. Status Name: Drew Wright Race: Dhampir (Grade -F) ¨C lvl 0 Class: Caster Profession: N/A Health Points (HP): 60/60 Mana Points (MP) 100/100 Stamina: 60/60 Stats (Attributes) Strength: 6 Vitality: 6 Endurance: 6 Toughness: 7 Agility: 4 Perception: 8 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 14 Willpower: 6 Free Points: 0 Well, at least it seems to be easy to understand. For a moment there, I was worried it would be based off some convoluted tabletop game that no one had ever heard of. Let¡¯s see¡­ vitality likely correlates to my health points, and intelligence is likely my mana points, which means stamina probably comes from endurance. He checked his assumptions with Spock, who nodded like a pleased parent. My agility is a bit shit to be honest, which is surprising after I chose an Elf as my Dhampir¡¯s mortal parent. Maybe it grows faster as I level instead of naturally starting off high? Also¡­ it¡¯s both satisfying and slightly depressing to see my life and body relayed to me in such a format. Maybe I¡¯ll change my mind about it after I get a few levels? What were my bonus attributes per level again? Additional Information Racial bonus attributes per level: +1 STR, +2 VIT, +2 END, +2 TGH, +1 AGI, +1 PCT, +1 WIL Class bonus attributes per level: +1 PCT, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 WIL, +2 Free points. Yeah, that¡¯s a pretty nice spread of stat points per level up, or at least I think they are¡­ What skills do I have? Skills Manabolt (Grade ¨C Inferior), Mana Manipulation (Grade ¨C Inferior), Spatial Inventory, Raise Dead (Grade ¨C Inferior), Mana Shield (Grade ¨C Inferior), Corruption (Grade ¨C Inferior). Spatial inventory? Is that like a bag of holding or something? I don¡¯t remember choosing that skill, maybe it just comes standard? Spatial Inventory A basic universal skill that allows for dimensional storage for any integrated sapient. While limited in size, most individuals use this skill to assist in carrying equipment, gear, emergency supplies and materials. Anything held within Spatial Inventory is outside the physical dimension and thus will not encumber the user. ¡°Hey Spock, does this spatial inventory skill mean I can just summon shit out of midair when I need to?¡± Drew asked as he looked up to find Spock intensely observing the inside of the chicken coop. When Drew spoke, the man let out a small squeak of surprise and quickly turned around. ¡°That is an overly simplified, yet somewhat accurate assessment of the skill in question, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said. ¡°Also, I recommend that you check your notifications. If you don¡¯t already have a notifications icon, I suggest adding one to your field of vision.¡± ¡°Uh, alright¡­¡± Drew replied cautiously. Let¡¯s see, how do I put an icon for it in my¡­ oh. There it is, let¡¯s just move that to the bottom right corner to keep it out of the way. Boom, locked in place. Good. Wait, why is it flashing? Notifications Title earned: [Progenitor] A title system of some kind? Is that like achievements or something? What¡¯s this title all about? [Progenitor] Chosen sapient of a pre-integrated world. Allows for the assistance of a System Guide within the Tutorial Introduction. Grants +2 to all stats. Grants skill: Multiversal Tongues (Unique). Multiversal Tongues (Unique) Allows for seamless communication across all racial and language barriers. This is a unique skill granted to progenitors of newly integrated worlds. Other inhabitants of newly integrated words start with an inferior skill that slowly upgrades when used, but still allows for faster-than-normal learning of new languages. Sweet. I got a universal translator and plus two to all my stats. Can¡¯t beat free stats and abilities! ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯m done investigating my stats and abilities for the moment, I can look into them more thoroughly later. Does leveling up work the way I think it does? Kill bad things, get experience points, then level up and get more stat points?¡± Drew asked. ¡°Essentially, yes. We don¡¯t have professions currently, so we¡¯re limited to leveling up our classes and our race. Your race will advance as you level your class and future profession, should you choose to have one. Eventually, we will hit a milestone and our race will evolve to become stronger, and we¡¯ll be able to change or evolve our classes.¡± ¡°Okay, cool. Stuff for later then.¡± ¡°Indeed, although I do recommend opening your status again if you¡¯ve checked your notifications. Changes won¡¯t occur until you do so.¡± Spock cautioned. Strange, but alright¡­ ¡°Do I have to look at the menu every time though, or can I just open it and close it? Like if I¡¯m in combat and I level up, can I take advantage of that without having to stop and get somewhere safe before checking my status?¡± Drew asked. ¡°You may do as you say. Many individuals find that interfacing with the menus can be troublesome or obnoxious. As long as you purposely open it, level-up changes will occur, but I caution you against waiting too long, as you may forget that you have additional skills available to choose from,¡± Spock said before turning back to gaze into the chicken coop. ¡°Noted. Let me try it out.¡± Drew focused his mind on opening and then immediately shutting the status menu down. Just as Drew began to breathe a sigh of relief that he wouldn¡¯t need to look at his menus constantly, a surge of warmth filled his body starting in his gut and then radiating outwards. The feeling intensified as the warmth slowly turned into a slight itch that made him want to scratch at his skin before reverting back into a warm, almost glowing feeling. Within moments, the feeling passed, but Drew felt like he was suddenly brimming with power. Almost instinctively, he knew that he was stronger, faster, and harder to hurt. It brought a deep feeling of satisfaction that Drew didn¡¯t expect. He longed to experience it again as soon as it died down. ¡°Well, that was intense,¡± Drew muttered to himself. ¡°Indeed. The first several stat increases usually are,¡± Spock said almost absentmindedly as he shifted his body to try to see inside the chicken coop to see where the animals were resting. ¡°I may regret asking this, but what are the average stat points for humans?¡± Drew asked, morbidly eager to know how he stacked up to the rest of his species. Spock turned back to look at him for a brief moment before answering. ¡°The System expected most of Earth¡¯s human population to fall within the five to seven point range for physical stats on average, and seven to nine points for mental stat points, with willpower being the exception at roughly four points,¡± Spock answered. Drew recalled that his starting physical stats were all six, with toughness at seven, but his agility had been at four. It made sense in a way, he had never been an athlete of any kind, and he hated running back in high school and college. Physically, he was pretty average. Mentally, he was a bit ahead of the pack. His intelligence was just one point above the average, and willpower was two above. Wisdom however, he excelled with that attribute, sitting at a juicy fourteen points. That one statistic made Drew feel a lot better about his otherwise average summary. Everyone wanted to be at least a little special. ¡°Good to know. How do I cast my spells?¡± Drew asked with glee in his voice. Continue reading/listening on Amazon Kindle and Audible 15 months after I first started writing as a way to spend my time while waiting on new releases for my favorite series, it''s finally happening. Book 1 of First Necromancer is being released on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible on April 9th 2024. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get to this point, and I couldn''t have accomplished it without the loving support of every reader here on Royal Road. Per Amazon''s exclusivity rules, I had to remove most of the content that would be published within the first book, however book 2 stuff is coming soon. You can continue reading First Necromancer here: Book 1 eBook and you can listen to it via audio book narrated by Christian J. Gilliland here: Book 1 Audiobook Book 2 stuff is coming soon, but I want to put this disclaimer here. I wrote book 2 before I rewrote book 1, so what I''m going to be posted here is the rough draft and will not benefit from the developmental and copy/line editing that my published book 1 has. A total of 8 months were spent rewriting and turning book 1 into its final form, so please keep that in mind as you move forward with book 2 content. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Lastly, I''d like to invite everyone to my Author Discord Server. Not only is it a cool place to hang out with like-minded people like yourselves, but I''ve also set up a leveling system based on participation, and there''s several games you can play on my server as well. After the crazy release is finally done, I may even do some events and giveaways in discord. Book 3 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡°Look, Kid, you¡¯re not listening to the words that are coming out of my mouth,¡± Hades, god of the dead and undead, said as he slumped back into a black iron throne and let out a sigh. ¡°I am listening, but slavery is something I will not budge on. You lived here for several thousand years, you know how that plays out and the atrocities committed under the guise of necessity,¡± Drew Wright shook his head firmly and locked eyes with the god. Three months had passed since the final destruction of the Devil incursion and the elimination of the Slosth threat, and much had changed for both Sanctuary and the world itself during that time. One such change was the Temple of Hades that had been built, which acted both as a place of worship and petitioning, but also as a place of education, one that Hades himself had dedicated an avatar to leading. The school wing was where Drew and Hades now stood, repeating the same conversation that had played out countless times before. ¡°You really should have been a warrior or something, because you almost never use that muscle in your skull for critical thought and reflection,¡± Hades retorted, burying his head in his hands. ¡°I am a god, for fucks sake, I should not need to spell things out to The Lady¡¯s Champion.¡± I do too use my brain¡­ most of the time. ¡°You. Are. Mortal,¡± Hades tapped a finger on his leg with each word, ¡°You are neither undead, machine, nor a god. You are limited by what your mortal coil can process. The fact that you can command as many minions as you do without having an aneurysm is solely due to your race as a Dhampir and the benefits it provides. But ultimately, you are still limited. Your brain cannot multitask to the level you¡¯re wanting it to, that¡¯s why The Baleful Lady and I both suggested mucking about with your template options.¡± ¡°And I did that. But I ended up getting my soul shattered in the process and created an entire race of sapient slaves bound to my will,¡± Drew argued. He had raised his voice this time, it wasn¡¯t intentional, but he was becoming frustrated. This wasn¡¯t their first conversation, nor their tenth. The god just didn¡¯t seem to understand his flat-out aversion to sapient slavery. ¡°Yes, you did do that,¡± Hades nodded before adding, ¡°But neither I, nor The Lady ever told you or even suggested you do that. We told you to experiment, specifically in the hopes that you would find a solution on your own without us needing to hand-hold you through the entire process. It seems as though our high expectations of you blinded us to the fact that you needed more assistance than we originally thought.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ what? I¡¯m not following¡­¡± ¡°Of course you¡¯re not, because you¡¯re not thinking about what we tell you. Neither one of us has suggested that you use an army of sapient beings enslaved to your will, and if your stopped to consider what we were telling you, then maybe you would have seen that sooner. But alas, here I am in my own temple and instead of teaching your citizens about the multiverse, The System, and necromancy, I¡¯m here dedicating this avatar¡¯s time to making¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Just get to the point will ya? I don¡¯t need a lecture.¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± Hades groaned, ¡°You do need a lecture. Fine. Look, there are many ways for a mortal to use an undead army without dying or turning into a vegetable. You found one way, a single way out of thousands, and one of the less savory ones at that. Ultimately you decided to turn them loose and grant them freedom, which I am whole-heartedly proud of. But there are other ways.¡± Well duh, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been asking for help with for the last three months. But you always go into lecture mode and my eyes glaze over when you repeat the same talking points over and over. ¡°And what ways would be good options for me specifically?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to get you to think about,¡± Hades stood up from his throne with a jolt of force and waved his hand. A white, dry erase board popped into existence behind him along with writing. Then the board extended, and extended. Soon the board that Drew had so often seen in school had wrapped around both the large room and itself several times over. ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± ¡°These,¡± Hades said waving at the boards, ¡°Are all options. But rather than let you loose to read everything and potentially make another mistake that you end up regretting, and thus put me in a similar situation all over again, I¡¯m instead going to ask you some questions. Your answers will filter down these options to applicable ones. Apparently, giving you subtle hints these past few months has not born fruit, so now we¡¯re going to do this a different way.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do this in the first place?¡± Drew asked. Hades stared at Drew for a minute before sighing while a small smile pulled at his right corner of his mouth, ¡°Because we both thought that you had the capacity to figure this out on your own without divine assistance. Which, in all fairness, you probably do. But I am tired of repeating the same advice to you week after week when I have students here to teach. I suggested that you reevaluate your options and think deeply on them before moving forward, but much to my annoyance, you seem to have thought that I was only encouraging you to continue using sapient undead, and as such have made no progress on alternatives. Of which there are many.¡± In the three months that had passed, many people, not just of Sanctuary, had taken up the worship of Hades. For a while he was the only god in town, as The Lady refused to offer anything in exchange for worship. That all changed once The Baleful Lady departed to go back to her realm. Once she was gone, the other gods descended onto Earth, or at least avatars of them.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Those gods and goddesses came in every shape, color, and flavor of divinity that was possible. Some were of hope, justice, fertility, and light. Others were of revenge, war, decay, murder. It wasn¡¯t all so black and white however, there were plenty of craftsmen related gods, or gods of more esoteric designs. And they all swooped down onto Earth like a pack of hungry used car salesmen. For Sanctuary, there were three main factions. Those who worshipped The Baleful Lady and, by extension, Hades. Those who kept to their old faiths, and a small, but vocal minority that followed the whims of other divines. Agnostics and atheists no longer technically existed with gods becoming common knowledge. Of course, there were people who refused to acknowledge or worship any of the divine beings for one reason or another, but that was the only common ground they shared as there was no organization behind them. ¡°Now, first question, and although I already know the answer¡­ Sapient minions of any kind are bad, yes?¡± Hades asked pointedly. ¡°Of course,¡± Drew nodded his head as he crossed his arms. The white boards shrunk in number considerably as Drew answered. ¡°Good. Now, what about enslaved sapients that had a firm, yet fair, term limit after which they¡¯d either be set free or sent to an afterlife?¡± Hades questioned. Drew scratched his chin. ¡°Hmm¡­ better than outright slavery but not preferable if willing combatants are possible.¡± The numbers of boards shrunk again, this time to the point that only half the room was taken up. ¡°And what about your Soulflames?¡± Hades asked, ¡°You are aware that even though you tell them to live their lives as they normally would, they are still tied to your will, and it is impossible to give them true freedom in the same way as you did for the undead of Bonetown, as it would untether their souls and send them to the afterlife.¡± Bonetown was another one of the recent developments. It seemed that Drew¡¯s former minions had inherited his own awful naming sense when they founded their own settlement. Diplomatically, they had formed friendly ties with Sanctuary. Most of their citizenry felt thankful to Drew for granting them freedom¡­ despite the desperate situation on Earth with the Incursions and lurking C-Grade monsters and Beasts. He''d thrown them in the deep end of the apocalypse, so to speak, so not all of the residents were his biggest fans, but most of his ex-minions shared a level of respect for their former master. They were well aware he hadn¡¯t had to free them, and was actually severely reducing his current fighting force by doing so. It had been the right thing to do, and Drew never once regretted it, but there had been serious consequences. Towns and cities that had fallen because Sanctuary hadn¡¯t had the manpower to get to them in time were a major source of the guilt and stress. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. Other atrocities were taking place all throughout the world, and even with Sanctuary¡¯s intelligence teams, they only had information from several nearby states. The fact was, Drew needed an army. ¡°I am aware of the Soulflame situation, yes. But short of any true resurrection that¡¯s the best I can offer them. Outside of Daniel, I try to refrain from interacting with them for any length of time as to not unduly influence them. Last I had heard, several of them had actually immigrated to Bonetown.¡± Hades nodded, ¡°That¡¯s correct. Many of them no longer felt at home among the living, especially with the reminders of their former lives around every corner. But, how would you feel about enlisting their aid in your army?¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not a real option. Daniel would probably volunteer, but I would never ask anything of them,¡± Drew frowned at the thought. They had already given their lives once, and they had paid a terrible price to remain on Earth. They could no longer taste anything except coffee, and while workarounds had been found for sexual intercourse, they could not reproduce nor enjoy the sensations reserved for the living. He couldn¡¯t ask even more of them, despite knowing that at least a few of them would take him up on the chance. The white boards shrunk until they numbered only three sections. ¡°Then you have but three options, but they are options nonetheless,¡± Hades gestured to the boards with his hands, ¡°Before we go into detail about them, there¡¯s some things you should know. Number one, your former minions that you freed, their powers still remain, but the things they can create are far more limited now that they are no longer connected directly to you. Those mechs and mounts for example no longer function, and the rifles you had built your former army around are far less effective than they once were, but they remain an option, albeit a poor one. More akin to powerful bows and arrows.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°They were intertwined with your soul, and your class as an evolved form of Necromancer. That connection was severed to free them, so the power that was once behind both them and their creations is now severely reduced. The Boneweavers can still create outstanding creations, but nothing with such advanced enchantments as before. Think of them as a new race, with skills commensurate with their age and experience. Most of them are mere months old and likely no more powerful or skilled than the humans of Sanctuary. As with all creatures under the System, they will grow, but if you intend to utilize them or convince them to join or trade with you, you should have realistic expectations.¡± Damn¡­ and after all that work that went into getting those things operational in the first place¡­ I was hoping I¡¯d at least still be able to access some of the bone magi-tech, if not the minions themselves. I won¡¯t be able to organize an army in the same way without those rifles or support from those mounts and mechs. I¡¯m going to need to rethink the entire structure of my army. If the Boneweavers and their creations were affected that deeply, then the rest of my former minions have likely had their powers reduced as well since they¡¯re no longer directly tied to my soul. It¡¯s probably less impactful, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a noticeable difference now. ¡°Secondly, as I mentioned before, mortal necromancers have found workarounds for their mental shortcomings when it comes to minion control. The ¡®standard¡¯ format is to use sapient beings in positions of power to act as sub commanders. This was actually what The Lady and I had in mind when we suggested you experiment with the templates. Whether enslaved or not, this is the is one of the ways you can move forward with an army as the subcommanders will share the mental burden of leadership, if they were undead, it would be even more favorable as they wouldn¡¯t be constrained to mortal limitations.¡± ¡°Which means what?¡± Drew asked as he scratched at this stubble. Hades pointed to one of the boards, ¡°It means that you would be able to retain the number of minions you previously had, or more, without facing detrimental effects by simply delegating command to appropriate minions or volunteers. You didn¡¯t need to make every minion sapient.¡± ¡°Ah, that makes sense,¡± Drew nodded, flushing slightly and scratching at some stubble on his face. ¡°Lastly, each of the three remaining options are mutually exclusive. Each one requires you specialize your skills and locks you onto that progression path. You would face extremely harsh penalties both to your soul and from The System itself if you were to attempt to re-specialize down the road. Therefore, I recommend you take your time to think about each option before deciding.¡± ¡°So, no takes-backsies?¡± Hades chuckled, ¡°No. Now, are you ready to hear your options, clearly spelled out to you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Book 3 Ch. 2 Chapter 2 ¡°Option one, is the path you already know, but with some adjustments. This is considered to be the standard or vanilla flavored option for mortal necromancers of your moral disposition. The bulk of your army would consist of constructed minions. You¡¯ve had the ability to create constructs from the very beginning, and at the time they were unthinking and almost robotic in nature requiring a large amount of micromanagement,¡± Hades said while holding up a single finger. ¡°Yeah, that was a pain in the ass. It was like trying to program lines of code or something for every potential situation that might arise. If something popped up that I hadn¡¯t addressed, I had to manually control them,¡± Drew said, remembering how draining the whole experience was. Hades nodded, ¡°Correct. Now, you have abilities and titles that can give your constructed minions a more animal-like intelligence, like that undead coyote that runs around the town from time to time. While not sapient, they would have instincts and you wouldn¡¯t need to rely on coding as you did before. Above them, subcommanders would be required. Ideally, undead in nature as they wouldn¡¯t fall prey to the same limitation that you have. Whether enslaved for a fair term, enslaved permanently, or volunteers. You can opt for a mix of the three, but ultimately the subcommanders are the only way to get the army size you¡¯re looking for.¡± Hmm¡­ so it would be pretty similar to my early days after The Descent hit, except they would all be animal-smart like Scolder rather than dumb things that stood still to be slaughtered because I forgot to program them to fight back. The downsides would obviously be the need for undead to command them, which means I¡¯d either need to convince some of the citizens from Bonetown to volunteer, ask Daniel and the other Soulflames which I really don¡¯t want to, or create enslaved minions that must serve a set number of years before being given freedom. ¡°Good to see that you¡¯re considering the option,¡± Hades smiled, ¡°Now, lets move on. Option two has a couple of major flaws for you specifically. The first being that you would need to learn an extremely complicated school of magic that is highly technical and requires a lot of time to master. I.e. you would not have an army any time soon. The second flaw is the army would require souls.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no. Not mucking about with Soulflames, I already said that,¡± Drew interrupted. Hades frowned, ¡°If you would allow me to continue, I was going to say that the souls themselves would only be held briefly. This school of magic allows you to take a snapshot of a soul, a tiny mirror image of it in fact. Once the snapshot is taken, the soul moves on and you¡¯re left with a tiny fragment reflection of what that soul was like.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound so bad,¡± Drew said before continuing, ¡°but would this fragment or whatever be sapient?¡± Hades shook his head, ¡°No. It would be as if you were taking a five-minute video of someone¡¯s life and personality, and then viewed it on the internet anytime you wanted to. The downside however, is you would have no ability to choose what snapshot was taken or when. You could end up with a five-year-old who was just celebrating his birthday and eating cake, or you could have a person caught up in the throes of lust and passion. Meaning it would take a very, very long time to gather enough souls and then weed out the ¡®failed¡¯ snapshots before you end up with the army you want. And this is after you completely master the school of magic.¡± So no, that¡¯s not an option at all. That would easily take years, if not decades of constant work just on the army portion with the fragments. Plus, I have no idea how long it would take to master a new school of magic and what that would involve. I need an army now, not in twenty years once everyone is already dead. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good fit for me,¡± Drew replied. ¡°Neither do I,¡± Hades barked out a laugh, ¡°Lastly, we have a more drastic option. It would give you everything you want, and more.¡± ¡°Now we¡¯re talking!¡± Drew smiled. Hades held up a finger, ¡°However, you would die and become undead in the process.¡± ¡°¡­Uh, come again?¡± ¡°You would become a Lich. It¡¯s actually a relatively simple procedure with the assistance of a god like myself, but you would become undead. This would instantly solve all your issues. You wouldn¡¯t need subcommanders of any kind if you didn¡¯t desire them, and as long as your phylactery remains safe, you would be effectively immortal and unkillable. You soul would be removed from your body and held in stasis, and if your body is destroyed, you would reform in time near your phylactery. There are advanced methods to speed this process up, of course. Additionally, your willpower stat, the one that governs minion cap, would become far more¡­ flexible. With my help, you could learn to wield an army a hundred times the size of your previous one.¡± But¡­ I would be dead, like Maud was, right? She never ate or slept, and her emotions were even more muted than the Soulflames. It was like she was barely excitable about anything other than her crafting. Plus, there¡¯s Amber¡­ ¡°Being undead has its downsides, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware. But it is an option, one that would allow you to reach your goals without any moral issues.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Uh¡­ I think I need some time to think about this¡­¡± Hades clapped his hands and the white boards disappeared, ¡°Good! Now, as much as I normally enjoy your company, these last few weeks have been trying and I¡¯d like to get back to work teaching the mortals.¡± *** ¡°Your only options are to become like Maud or create sub-commander slaves?¡± Amber asked. Drew nodded, ¡°That¡¯s what Hades said, yeah. Although I might be able to find some volunteers¡­¡± ¡°But that won¡¯t be enough?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Drew said sadly as he dropped into the living room couch and sunk deeply into it while Amber continued to stand, a hand held to her chin. ¡°Neither of those options are pleasant. I liked Maud, I really did, and being able to revive over time would be a weight off my mind, but she had practically no human emotions. She was cold and calculating, without any thought past those of a practical nature.¡± ¡°Sounds like an easy choice,¡± Drew¡¯s mom interjected as she ruffled through the pantry to find a paper bag of locally made potato chips, ¡°Emotions and morals often hold people back from their potential.¡± ¡°No one asked you, Ma,¡± Drew said with an exasperated tone. He was technically in his forties now after the time spent in the training dungeon, and yet his mom still felt the need to butt into personal conversations. ¡°Besides, I figured you¡¯d want grandkids!¡± Drew raised his voice for the last bit, though he said it through gritted teeth. The crinkling of the paper back stopped, and Drew turned his head from his position on the couch just in time to see the bag of chips drop to the floor. ¡°Grandchildren?¡± she asked in barely a whisper. ¡°Yes, Ma. Grandkids. If I¡¯m an undead lich, Amber and I can¡¯t exactly have kids, now can we?¡± Drew¡¯s mom practically flew over to the couch and looked down at him from behind it, ¡°I want to be called Gram,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Ma, we haven¡¯t decided anything yet. It¡¯s just¡­ it was in the realm of possibilities that we have been considering recently.¡± Drew¡¯s mom huffed, ¡°Well why did no one inform me?¡± Both Amber and Drew sighed. ¡°We only started talking about in the last month or so,¡± Amber replied, ¡°After finding Dallas, Waco, and Tyler all in pretty good shape with thriving populations and children running around¡­ it started to give us some hope for the future.¡± ¡°Drew, I forbid you from becoming a sterile undead,¡± his mom said with finality before walking away. She paused once she opened her TV room to yell out, ¡°And remember, I¡¯m Gram,¡± before slamming the door. ¡°Ughh¡­¡± Drew groaned, and he felt Amber sit next to him and begin massaging his shoulders as he squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. ¡°Sweetie, you do whatever you feel is right. Worst case scenario, we can always adopt. There are many orphans out there that could use a good home and a loving family, so if you decide to go the lich route¡­¡± ¡°Thank you, Boo Bear,¡± Drew forced himself to smile. Her words were kind, and she meant well, but Drew felt like either option was terrible. On one hand, he could fix every problem he had, and if he was killed, at least he would come back due to the phylactery. He also wouldn¡¯t need to enslave anyone. But that option came at a great personal cost. He would no longer enjoy food, he would lose his looks, and he would never be able to have children of his own blood. Then there would be the loss of emotions. Maud had been a good person, but she often had a morally gray outlook, even more so than Drew¡¯s own pragmatism. He didn¡¯t know if he was willing to give all that up. Besides, if I lose my emotions, wouldn¡¯t my morals change? What would stop me from suddenly thinking that slavery wasn¡¯t so bad if it meant my army was far more potent? But on the other hand, even if a few of his ex-minions from Bonetown volunteered, they likely wouldn¡¯t offer enough in terms of manpower. For an army of more than ten thousand undead, if he kept everything relatively mindless, he¡¯d still need a minimum of ten subcommanders. And that was a minimum, and it didn¡¯t account for the fact that he could field an even larger army with his current minion cap. It was almost guaranteed that he¡¯d need slaves, something Drew was staunchly against. Hell, I even released Dickbag and allowed him to pass on, and he was a total¡­ well, Dickbag. It was a mistake at the time, but I rolled with it because I couldn¡¯t allow the other original survivors to think they could walk all over me and my family. I kept him around as an example. But I still felt guilt as more time passed and I eventually relented and released him to The Halls of Reflection¡­ wait a minute¡­ maybe Hades doesn¡¯t know everything. He¡¯s just a god after all, maybe The Baleful Lady can think of another option! *** ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Hades is correct, Champion. Those are your only two choices,¡± The Baleful Lady replied via the telepathic link to Drew. ¡°Wonderful¡­¡± ¡°I am aware that this is not what you want to hear, but both options are efficient given your situation. You should also know that your experience growing up on an unintegrated world has left you biased. Term limits on minions with souls is a practice I generally encourage as it prevents the abuse of said souls and allows them to eventually reenter the cycle of life and death. You can think of it as indentured servitude if you like.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Drew replied while he shook his head, ¡°You told me before that necromancers often mess up the balance of the cosmos with stuff like this, so how could you be in favor of something so terrible?¡± ¡°The System enforces oaths, Champion. These are not promises filled with empty words. You¡¯re creating life. Undead life, but still life. You giving a being a purpose, an education through experiences, and then allowing them to move onto their lives like a parent with a child. What I am against is when necromancers abuse souls, especially natural souls, and force them to remain as servants without ever allowing them the release of death. This upsets the balance.¡± ¡°Be that as it may, slavery is still slavery.¡± ¡°It is,¡± The Lady agreed, ¡°But indentured servitude is common throughout the multiverse. Slavery is as well, though both are looked down upon by many beings. No matter what choice you make, some will call you a monster. Good and evil are not black and white, they are a spectrum and every choice falls somewhere between them. But to your enemies, you will always be an evil monster.¡± ¡°Okay, but what¡¯s any of that have to do with my current options?¡± Drew felt a hint of amusement through the telepathic line to the primordial of death. ¡°Hades is right, you don¡¯t think too deeply on our words. You must choose the option that you feel most at peace with. I suggest you visit¡­ Bonetown was it? What an awful name. I digress, I recommend you visit there before making a decision.¡± Book 3 Ch. 3 Chapter 3 ¡°Drew Wright, this place is strange,¡± Spock said as he looked around like a toddler being taken to the dentist for the first time. Weary, and slightly cautious, with no idea of what lay before him. Spock wasn¡¯t wrong though, Bonetown was a strange place. It was located only fifteen miles to the North of Sanctuary, and the entire settlement looked to be a fusion of Tim Burton¡¯s Nightmare Before Christmas and¡­ bones. Lots, and lots of bones. If the old staging ground for Drew¡¯s former weavers at Sanctuary had stuck out like a sore thumb, this thumb looked like it had been run over with the lawn mower. Barrowcroft, the town surrounding the training dungeon in The Lady¡¯s Halls of Reflection, had nothing on this place, and Barrowcroft was exclusively home to the undead. Bonetown was dreary, there were no shouts of vendors peddling their wares from markets or food stalls, no colors other than white, black and gray, and very little sound of any kind. Buildings seemed to sprout from the ground like an ancient creature had died and decomposed there. One tower looked as if a single overly large rib had been twisted and turned onto itself over and over until it reached high into the sky. Others, homes mostly, looked to be made of concrete as everything was flat and flowed together, but they too were also made from bones. In a way, Drew was proud that his former minions had forged their own culture and style, but he still found the entire place to be entirely morbid and a bit spooky. ¡°Strange indeed,¡± Drew nodded as an eerie melody slowly emerged to hang in the air. The tune had a sad tone to it that was occasionally interrupted by small bursts of uplifting rhythm before it fell back down to its former dirge-like state. As for Drew¡¯s former minions, they were around. Each went about their own business. Some hauling carts of material to and form different buildings, others sat around small tables under bone porches and spoke amongst themselves. Drew and Spock¡¯s presence didn¡¯t go unnoticed. Many of his former minions nodded at him as they walked by, while an occasional one would bow so low that it made Drew feel incredibly uncomfortable. Still, there were some that just chose to ignore his existence, either they didn¡¯t notice him, or perhaps they held their former enslavement against him ¨C or even their current fraught existence. He wasn¡¯t sure what made him more uncomfortable; the bows or the snubs. I tried to right my wrong as best as I could given the situation. There was a [Pillar of Civilization] present as well. How the undead got one, Drew had no idea, but he was glad to see that they were doing okay. Sanctuary and Bonetown had a formal non-aggression pact and open borders, all enforced by The System, but past that¡­ there hadn¡¯t been any trading happening as far as Drew knew. Not that that was hugely surprising as the town had taken far longer to build now that the Boneweavers had lost much of their power. In fact, much of the town was still under construction and many of his ex-minions were still coming to terms with their own sapience. Not the best environment for trade. Not to mention the locals here had no immediate needs in terms of survival. They didn¡¯t require food, water, warmth or any of the more basic necessities that the other cities tended to trade for. ¡°While I do enjoy your company, Drew Wright, may I asked why you invited me to join you in this visit?¡± Drew felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, ¡°Because this is my first time here and I feel kinda awkward¡± I¡¯ve been so busy going out with Mark, Amber, and Freya to help Dallas and the surrounding areas that I haven¡¯t had the time to stop by and visit¡­ or maybe I¡¯m just making excuses for myself because of the guilt I still feel over using these people as weapons¡­ a little of column A and a little of column B? ¡°I do not understand, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said as he gave Drew a look of puzzlement. ¡°It¡¯s customary to invite close friends to events that are often awkward or unpleasant.¡± ¡°Is that why Beefcake had my outhouse constructed next to his own?¡± Drew¡¯s brows furrowed before he let out a bark of a laugh, ¡°I have no idea, but that¡¯s hilarious.¡± ¡°It is not hilarious, Drew Wright. He speaks to me, through the thin wood walls, while vacating his bowels. It is highly uncomfortable.¡± Uncontrolled laughter broke past Drew¡¯s lips, and despite him attempting to bring it under control, his desire only made the guffawing worse, much to Spock¡¯s chagrin. That same laughter seemed to draw all the attention of the various undead, and it wasn¡¯t long before a skeletal figure, no more than skin and bone, walked up to them wearing a black robe with a white band wrapped around his right bicep. ¡°What seems to the problem here?¡± The undead asked. ¡°My friend has found immense humor in my own personal misery,¡± Spock responded in an annoyed tone. ¡°Ha¡­ just¡­¡± Drew held up a finger while he braced himself and tried to stand back up from where he was leaned over as his stomach muscles complained, ¡°Just¡­ some¡­ toilet humor,¡± Drew managed to spit out before a whole new round of laughter broke from his lips. ¡°Is he alright? I never saw him act this way while he was my master,¡± the undead asked, and despite his gravely tone, there was a hint of concern. Spock shrugged, ¡°That is a question I¡¯ve been forced to ask myself repeatedly during my time as his companion. I¡¯m inclined to believe that this may be a form of stress relief for him given the immense responsibilities he feels towards the surviving humans.¡± Although Drew had lost himself in the laughter, Spock¡¯s words shot through his skull and quickly dampened his good mood. The former System Guide sure did have the knack for raining on a guy¡¯s parade. Drew stood, wiped the tears from his eyes, and ignored his protesting abdominal muscles, ¡°Thanks for ruining the moment, Spock.¡± ¡°My pleasure, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said with a sly smile. Bastard. You win that one.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The undead watched the human exchange with a slight tilt to its head, like a child at the zoo. ¡°Creator, what is your business in Bonetown?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve come to see Rex and Steve,¡± Drew said as he gave Spock a little glare, ¡°and please, just call me Drew.¡± ¡°As you say, Creator. Please, follow me and I will escort you to their office at the Bone Hall.¡± Ugh¡­ well at least it¡¯s not master¡­ ¡°Wait, you mean town hall, right?¡± ¡°No, Bone Hall. Better name, same purpose, Creator.¡± Damn¡­ they really did inherit my poor naming sense. *** ¡°Creator,¡± Rex said as he greeted Drew with a firm nod. ¡°Creator!¡± Steve said happily, ¡°Have you come to us with a project in mind?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ a project?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. You know, like those rifles you had us design, or the other fantastical¡ª¡± Drew cut him off, ¡°No. At least, I don¡¯t think so. I actually came here because I have a problem and I¡¯m hoping you two might have a solution for me.¡± The meeting was taking place in a, outside of everything being made of bone, normal town hall setting that was appropriate for a settlement of nearly ten thousand undead. If one could call a settlement of thousands of undead normal that is. There were a number of small offices, desk and a main auditorium complete with a stage and several dozen chairs. A few of which they now sat on. ¡°What is the problem?¡± Rex asked. ¡°Well, as you know, I originally created you and your peers with the intention of having an army to go save the remaining people of my planet and to eliminate any threats,¡± Drew began and both of his former minions nodded along, ¡°It was never my intention to create, for lack of a better term, living beings. I misunderstood the information that The System and the gods had shared with me and believed that the resulting minions would simply be intelligent and able to make decisions.¡± ¡°And then you came to the realization that we were more than just smart undead,¡± Steve added. Drew nodded, ¡°Correct. Much to my horror, I found myself a master of an enslaved people. As soon as the immediate threat of the Slosh and Devils were taken care of, I went to Hades and asked him to free you. I don¡¯t regret asking him to do so, as you all deserve to live your lives how you see fit.¡± ¡°But now you¡¯re in the position you were in originally. You need an army,¡± Steve said. Steve had always been quick on the uptake, so it was of little surprise that the Boneweaver instantly saw Drew¡¯s issue. ¡°Yes,¡± Drew said with a sigh, ¡°As powerful as I am, even with my friends, it would take forever to eliminate all the Incursions and create stability for the people here. As it is, Sanctuary is already stretched extremely thin despite all the towns and small cities uprooting their citizens and joining us. But I refuse to enslave anyone.¡± ¡°You came to us in the hopes of convincing our people to rejoin your army?¡± Rex asked. His tone was direct, but cautious, and Drew caught a whiff of that caution instantly. He didn¡¯t blame Rex for feeling uneasy either, they had just gained their freedom. Drew shook his head, ¡°No. Your people have their freedom and I would not ask that of them. I originally planned to alter my army composition by only using constructed minions, but I kept running into an issue. I¡¯m mortal. My body, and brain cannot handle multitasking of that level. What I need are subcommanders. People who can issue commands on my behalf and create a unified fighting force.¡± And no matter how many times I tried, I kept running into issues, normally in the form my blood flowing from places it¡¯s not meant to. It¡¯s not like I was trying to annoy Hades into being upfront¡­ that just kinda worked out in my favor. Three months of near constant experimentation, even while on the road, took a toll on me. I kept hitting a limit, time and time again. There was no answer in sight. It was either become limited by the number of minions I could control without exploding, or enslave people. Neither of which was appetizing. ¡°Hmm,¡± Rex pondered as he paced, ¡°You need beings that would fill the roles of the sergeants, lieutenants, and generals. Otherwise, you risk the army in question being uncoordinated, unresponsive, and ineffective.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Drew said, ¡°But as I said, I refuse to enslave anyone. My hope was that some of your people may be willing to fill those limited roles as volunteers. If they are competent enough, I¡¯m hoping to get by with only using the equivalent of captains.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a tall order, Creator. The previous army did well because the command structure was broken down to many levels and each of us were able to think for ourselves. Normal undead would require a lot of supervision,¡± Steve said as he tapped his chin, which caused a piece of chin to flake off. ¡°I have the ability to grant constructed minions animal-like instincts, so that would help, but yes. There would still be a lot of micromanagement involved. Also, could y¡¯all not call me creator or master or anything? It makes me feel really uncomfortable.¡± ¡°He also feels guilty and does not wish to be reminded of his mistake,¡± Spock piped in for the first time, causing all heads to turn to him. Drew hiked a thumb over his shoulder towards Spock, ¡°Yes, and that.¡± ¡°I see¡­ would Warden be an acceptable title then?¡± Rex asked. Huh¡­ yeah, that actually doesn¡¯t make me cringe internally. ¡°Yes, that would be fine.¡± ¡°What if we are unable to find any volunteers for your army?¡± Rex asked. That leaves me up shit creek without a canoe. But I won¡¯t force anyone. Drew shrugged, ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing that can be done. I¡¯ll either have to restrain myself to a couple hundred constructed minions at best, or become undead myself so I can handle a larger army. Neither option is great, but I¡¯ll work with it if I have to.¡± Rex and Steve looked at each other, and it was apparent there was some form of non-verbal communication happening between them. ¡°Warden, if you would excuse us, we would like to confer with our peers. Please remain here as our guest and I¡¯ll have some coffee brought in for you and Mr. Spock,¡± Rex said. Drew nodded his head and the two undead left, leaving Drew and Spock alone in the meeting room. The entire time they had stood, but soon after the undead had left, a new undead entered with two chairs, both made from bone, and a couple of cups of steaming coffee. ¡°It appears as though one of the Soulflames that left Sanctuary brought their enjoyment of the bean water with them here,¡± Spock said as he started down at the pitch-black liquid. Drew wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°I think it¡¯s one of the few things they can ingest and taste.¡± ¡°I believed that to only be the case for Soulflames,¡± Spock mentioned offhandedly as he took a small sip of the coffee before quickly setting down the cup, ¡°Its temperate is that of lava, Drew Wright, do be careful.¡± Drew chuckled, ¡°Did you burn your tongue?¡± ¡°I do not believe I have a tongue any longer.¡± Spock¡¯s words made Drew smile. The man was eccentric without a doubt, but he had begun to pick up on human culture and interpersonal relationships. Despite the rather bleak situation, Drew took a small amount of pleasure in seeing his friend grow enough to offer humor to comfort him. I guess he¡¯s no longer an innocent little duckling¡­ now he¡¯s like a teenager. But uh¡­ without the hormones. ¡°Drew Wright, do you truly plan to reduce your army to such a minuscule number, or become undead yourself?¡± Drew sighed and took a sip of his coffee, Spock was right it had been hot, ¡°Honestly, I have no idea man. A small army is better than no army¡­ but the undead part. That¡¯s a tough call. Amber and I have been talking about the possibility of having children and getting turned into a Lich would pretty much ruin that.¡± ¡°Why would being undead prevent you and Mrs. Wright from having offspring?¡± Drew shot a glance towards Spock only to see him smiling smugly to himself. ¡°You¡¯re joking.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Spock nodded, ¡°I remember that conversation in great detail.¡± Ugh, don¡¯t remind me. ¡°So, what will you do?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m fucked either way.¡± ¡°You might even say¡­ boned, Drew Wright?¡± Spock said with a snicker. ¡°Yes, Spock. Boned,¡± Drew said with a sad smile on his face as he leaned back into the highly uncomfortable bone chair and listened to his back crack in the process, ¡°I guess the question is whether saving everyone is important enough for me to sacrifice my life, and my blood lineage, for.¡± ¡°Your race would change to that of a Lich, and you would lose much of your emotions in the process.¡± ¡°I would, yes. I¡¯d be like Maud.¡± ¡°I miss that woman, Drew Wright. I do wonder if she¡¯s resurrected yet.¡± Drew could only nod. He had a feeling that he¡¯d need to make the most difficult decision of his life soon, and each outcome would have its own personal hell for him to pay. Should he let humanity fend for itself while he focused on keeping Sanctuary and the other local-ish cities safe? Or should he sacrifice everything he had always known, and lose his emotions in the process, to save the world? Book 3 Ch. 4 Chapter 4 ¡°Warden, thank you for your patience,¡± Rex said as he and Steve reentered the meeting room a couple of hours later. ¡°We had wished to confer with our peers to best determine our path forward,¡± Steve added as he pushed his eye glasses up the bridge of his nose. Drew nodded and stood from the highly uncomfortable bone chair, ¡°I take it there were no volunteer candidates?¡± Steve smiled, and it was a horrifying visage of already tight skin being pulled to an extreme tautness against his skull, ¡°Quite the contrary, there are many volunteers.¡± ¡°No shit?¡± Drew gasped. This could be the break that he needed. ¡°Indeed?¡± Spock added with a raised eyebrow. Rex nodded once, ¡°Yes. Many of our people feel indebted towards the Warden for ending their servitude, although not all of the volunteers are competent enough with your needs, I do believe you will have your commanders.¡± I¡¯m really surprised they had that many volunteers¡­ or volunteers at all come to think of it. ¡°There have been many developments since you asked Lord Hades for assistance in releasing us from our shackles,¡± Steve said before pausing, ¡°The technology that we Boneweavers had worked so tirelessly to develop has ceased functioning. The original Bone Rifles are little more than paperweights now, and the other constructs that remained operational require dedicated teams of our people to prevent a total systems shutdown.¡± ¡°It is our belief that in severing the connection to you, our creator, much of our enchantments were cut off from the magical nexus of your soul¡¯s energy that powered them. It¡¯s all quite fascinating, but I digress. Since our freedom we have undergone many changes as a people. Most of us now worship Lord Hades, not just for his hand in freeing us, but also because his domain is that of the undead. Us.¡± Drew found the idea that undead worshipped anyone rather interesting, but it made sense. ¡°And what does that have to do with the other changes you mentioned?¡± Steve cleared his throat through a cough and a moth flew out of his gaping mouth, ¡°Our original paths have ended, but new opportunities were given to us by the god of undead. Many of our people have embraced these new paths, one of which may prove instrumental in assisting you with your army.¡± Drew¡¯s interest was instantly piqued. Just what had Hades done that would allow these people to make up for the shortcomings of micromanaging a large legion of constructed and animalistic undead? ¡°They became Necromancers,¡± Spock said suddenly. ¡°That is correct,¡± Rex replied. ¡°And some of the volunteers of Necromancers?¡± Drew questioned. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°As for my peers, the Boneweavers, we have mostly chosen to continue our path of invention and creation. As thrilled as we would be to work with you again on your ideas and projects, I¡¯m afraid that our own abilities are more mundane in nature now that we our cut off from your soul¡¯s nexus,¡± Steve said sadly. Yeah, the rifles are next to worthless now it seems, and if any of the mechs are still around it would be almost pointless to continue to use them with the sheer quantity of labor it takes to maintain them¡­ if the weavers could even manage it in the first place. And if they¡¯re creating relatively mundane objects like they¡­ ¡°Uh, Steve, when you say you¡¯ve been busy creating mundane stuff, what exactly do you mean?¡± Drew asked. Steve waved his hands about dispassionately, ¡°The buildings, the chairs and other furniture, we¡¯ve yet to find our muse or true sense of inspiration.¡± ¡°So you still work with bone, but it cannot be magically powered?¡± ¡°Not without great and constant effort,¡± Steve said dejectedly. Hmm¡­ ¡°Hey Steve, I think I have an idea,¡± Drew smiled. ¡°Truly? A project, a real project? Not just this infrastructure and awful chairs?¡± The undead practically vibrated with excitement. They knew the chairs were uncomfortable¡­ they really must be bored as hell if they left them as is without tinkering to make them less of a pain in the ass to sit on. Although how an undead would test for comfort is a question in itself¡­ Drew leaned forward. ¡°Armies need weapons and armor, even if they aren¡¯t magically powered. I could definitely use the Boneweavers expertise in creating them.¡± Steve turned to his colleague with a giant, and deeply disturbing, smile on his face, ¡°No more stuffy buildings and chairs for this weaver! We have a project!¡± It was with those words that Steve ran out of the room like a child on a sugar high. ¡°He seems pleased,¡± Drew said with a smile and a shrug of his shoulder. ¡°Indeed,¡± Spock nodded. Rex stood in place, his undead face somehow contriving to convey his surprise. He let out a raspy sigh, ¡°I want to say that his and the other Boneweavers will be missed and we greatly value their contributions here¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°But they¡¯ve been driving me insane with their boredom and daily pestering for a more substantial job. It seems I should be thanking you once again, Warden.¡± Drew waved him off casually, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m happy to have him and any others on board.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m certain that you are. The Necromancers who volunteered are also eager to begin to work with you, as many of them had formerly been a part of your command structure. In truth, some of us have had a difficult time coping with our newfound freedom. Now, please allow me to introduce you to some of the volunteers.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. *** Drew and Spock spent a day in Bonetown, but they were both very happy to be leaving. As accommodating as the undead were, they didn¡¯t have the need for sleep or food so the two men left feeling pretty damn hungry. As for why they spent so long in town, well that was a different story altogether. Many Necromancers had volunteered, and Drew had to pick through them to find the best fits for his needs. Personality and capabilities were equally as important. His minion cap was also limited, so as much as Drew would have loved to grab all the willing Necromancers, he only needed ten or so. At least ten that could handle a thousand minions a piece. The rest of the time? That was spent trying, and failing, to leave. Word spread quickly that Drew was looking for volunteers, and before he knew it the former Blackguard that had formed the majority of his forces in the assault against the Slosth queen had requested to reenter his service. Very few had survived that encounter, but the ones that did seemed almost fervent towards Drew, and he found himself having a hard time saying no. So he didn¡¯t. After all, they offered to become his personal bodyguards, the equivalent to the Secret Service. Finally, there was Steve. Good ol¡¯ Steve. Steve who went around and told all his Boneweaver peers about Drew¡¯s need to equip a brand-new army using non-magically powered weapons and armor. Those weavers physically blocked Drew from leaving until he accepted each and every one of their number. One thing did stand out to Drew from all the time spent in the undead town, there were mountains of highly uncomfortable looking chairs, tables, and benches littering every spare space that they could be stuffed into. Not a single one were in use either. It seemed as though Rex may have understated just how bored Steve and his peers had been recently. ¡°Drew Wright, I am hungry,¡± Spock complained. ¡°Me too buddy, but we¡¯ll be back in twenty minutes and then we can go grab some grub.¡± ¡°Why would we wish to procure worms, Drew Wright?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re fucking with me or not,¡± Drew looked over to Spock only to see a genuine look of puzzlement on his face, ¡°It¡¯s just a saying that means we¡¯re going to grab some food.¡± ¡°I do not wish to ingest worms, Drew Wright.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡± ¡°Are worms tasty?¡± Steve interjected, to which both Spock and Drew turned to look at the undead. ¡°Ya know, I¡¯ve never tried them and I¡¯m inclined not to,¡± Drew answered after pausing for a moment. Spock gagged, ¡°Grub are not people food, Mr. Steve. They¡¯re slimy, they wriggle everywhere and they live in the dirt, mud, and¡­ other unspeakable places.¡± ¡°I¡¯d try them, slimy and wriggly sounds interesting.¡± Steve shrugged and his words this time caused Drew to gag as well. ¡°I thought undead can¡¯t taste anything other than the bean water?¡± Spock questioned. Steve nodded, ¡°Coffee is good, yes. But we will never know unless we try. At the very least we would be able to feel them as they slide down. I¡¯d imagine that they would have a pleasant texture.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m done,¡± Drew said before walking away at a much faster pace and forcing down the bile that had risen from his stomach. ¡°As am I, Drew Wright. On a related note, I am no longer hungry.¡± *** ¡°So¡­¡± Hades said as he placed a sheet of paper down on his desk and looked up to Drew. ¡°So?¡± ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah?¡± Drew said in a confused manner as he cocked his head. Did Hades lose his marbles or something? The god sighed, ¡°I just listened to a woman¡¯s prayers from over in Alaska. Last week her husband was pulled out of their home by a D-Grade Glacial Grizzly Bear, right through a closed window mind you. She listened to his cries as he was dragged off to the wood behind their home, and she listened to his dying screams.¡± ¡°That¡¯s incredibly sad, were you able to help her at all?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Hades nodded, ¡°Her husband¡¯s soul had already departed for The Halls of Reflection, but I raised his body and used it to track down the bear, slaughter it, and leave its decapitated head on a frozen icicle outside their house.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ incredibly morbid,¡± Drew said, ¡°But¡­ uh what does that have to do with me being here?¡± ¡°The woman lost her husband and only surviving family member. She¡¯s prayed to me twice, the first asking for revenge and to comfort her husband¡¯s soul, and the second to thank me.¡± ¡°Okayyy¡­¡± Drew nodded slowly, not sure where this was going. ¡°You¡¯ve come to me eleven times in the last month, Kid. So, I must ask, you being here, do you require divine intervention?¡± Oh¡­ yeah, okay I guess he¡¯s a bit peeved that I¡¯ve been bugging him so much. ¡°No, I just wanted to thank you.¡± ¡°Thank me?¡± Hades asked as he stood up with a smile. ¡°Yes, your advice was solid and I had many volunteers from Bonetown. I wanted to say thanks for suggesting I go there before making a decision. It likely saved me from making a decision I really didn¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°I see. Well, you¡¯re welcome,¡± Hades said more warmly. ¡°And on that note, I¡¯m going to begin work on my army.¡± ¡°Hereee we go,¡± Hades said as he began to massage his temples. Drew ignored the god and continued, ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m planning to go with a more ¡®classic¡¯ undead army. Swords and shields, archers, mage support. Before I pull the trigger I just wanted to ask if what I¡¯m about to do is incredibly stupid and there are some other forces at play that I¡¯m unaware of.¡± ¡°Wait¡­¡± Hades dropped his hands from his head and locked eyes with Drew, ¡°So you¡¯re here to confirm that your decision isn¡¯t about to rip open a hole in time or space, or bring unspeakable evils to Earth?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I wouldn¡¯t exactly word it like that, but yes?¡± Drew cocked his head slightly. Hades physically leapt in the air with a single first raised high, ¡°Eureka! By The Lady, I think you¡¯ve finally started using that gray matter in that thick skull of yours!¡± Err¡­ why do I feel like that¡¯s an insult? ¡°Thanks¡­ I guess?¡± ¡°Good on you, Kid! Seriously, you had me and Raynalyr worried for some time now, it¡¯s good to see you¡¯re capable of learning, even if it is extremely slow. You weren¡¯t exactly top of your class, were you?¡± The last part the god asked in a more of a whisper. Drew shrugged, ¡°Top five percent or so, why do you ask.¡± ¡°Oh boy, the education system here was so fucked,¡± Hades said with exasperation before continuing, ¡°To answer your question, no. A classic army as you called it, is perfectly fine. Thank you for asking, and uh¡­ maybe ask The Lady more of this stuff in the future.¡± ¡°I try not to bother her too much, she always seems super busy and she¡¯s a tiny bit scary sometimes.¡± Hades nodded, ¡°She is, and she sure as hell can be. But I¡¯m also busy, and you can contact her anytime you like. Now, please leave before I develop a hernia. Come back in a couple of weeks and we can go grab a drink together.¡± ¡°Sure, sounds good.¡± If he was that annoyed with me, I guess it¡¯s lucky that he didn¡¯t smite me¡­ maybe he¡¯s right. I should think things through better and then ask for clarification before doing anything big. The last thing I need is to piss the gods off, or ruin the world. *** ¡°Am I really that scary?¡± The Lady asked as she appeared moments after Drew left, causing Hades to nearly leap out of his own skin. ¡°Could you knock?¡± The Primordial of Death glared daggers at Hades ¡°Yes, yes you are scary,¡± Hades chuckled nervously while pulling at his collar. The Lady cupped her chin, ¡°Something to work on I suppose. Perhaps I should ask my sister for guidance on how to better ingrain myself with mortals.¡± Hades laughed, ¡°She just opens her legs. You¡¯re different than she is, you need to find your own way.¡± The Baleful Lady winced, ¡°True enough. How did you accomplish it? Drew seems to find you far more approachable.¡± ¡°It helps that I¡¯ve lived among them for millennia, not as a god, but as one of them. The only time you interact with them is during your official duties in The Halls,¡± Hades paused before continuing, ¡°On the bright side, the Kid seems to be doing better. Using his brain for once.¡± ¡°Indeed, we just need to keep a continued watch on him. With his strength and affinities, if he makes a mistake, it could easily grow to become something that he will regret deeply.¡± ¡°He already has with those artificially ensouled.¡± ¡°Yes, that was unfortunate. But¡­¡± She let out an aggravated sigh before cursing under her breath, ¡°I need to get back. The twins have become increasingly active as of late, and I feel their eyes on me.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Hades groaned, ¡°Best be off then.¡± Book 3 Ch. 5 Chapter 5 Drew stood outside of Sanctuary proper while tinkering with his System menus and going through the various templates he had access to when the sound of grass being crushed underfoot caused him to turn his head. Mark and Robert were talking amongst themselves as they walked up to him. Drew quickly finished looking through the template he had pulled up and turned to greet his friends. ¡°Robert, Mark, what can I help ya with?¡± ¡°Drew, good to have you back home,¡± Robert said with a smile as he reached out and hugged Drew. Drew smiled and clapped the older man on the back with his hand, ¡°It¡¯s good to be back and feeling productive again.¡± ¡°Amber said you got the army situation straightened out man, how in the world did you convince those undead to rejoin you?¡± ¡°I asked?¡± ¡°Not cool dude,¡± Mark laughed. ¡°What¡¯s not cool?¡± ¡°You said they were slaves, you released them, and then you asked them to work for you. This is like American history in high school all over again,¡± Mark scolded good naturedly. ¡°That¡¯s not how it is at all, and you know it,¡± Drew retorted in a less jovial tone. Mark took a moment to raise his eyebrow, ¡°Are you at least paying them?¡± Oh¡­ yeah I guess I better pay them something for their time and everything. ¡°Not yet, I was planning to ask Robert to help me figure something out on that front.¡± Robert nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it and speak with Junior about the appropriate compensation for their services. But, that¡¯s not why we came out here.¡± ¡°I figured; what train was derailed this time?¡± Drew asked. Whenever Robert sought Drew out specifically it was rarely for good news. It usually meant something required his immediate attention. An Incursion being found, official decisions on diplomatic ties, and of course crime and punishment within Sanctuary. As the settlement grew, crime had popped up. Compared to Earth before The System, it wasn¡¯t nearly as widespread, but occasional crimes were beginning to occur. Drew had previously been forced to sit down and work out official laws and the punishments for breaking them. He¡¯d kept it relatively simple, since The System enforced and handled a lot of the backend work like taxes. No theft, no assault, no murder. Stuff like that. Before The System crime had been far, far worse, but now classes like Judicators and Truthsayers existed, which made lying before a judge and jury nearly impossible. People could dance around certain facts, but eventually they would come to light. The last such case, a prolific one, had been a sexual assault. A citizen had allegedly drugged and assaulted another person. Sadly, in that case, the charges ended up being true and the victim was taken in for medical care and mental health assistance. The criminal, unable to lie before the jury, admitted to it when he found that he could not lie. The punishment was both swift and harsh, with the man having his reproductive organs and hands removed permanently. He was then sent to live out his days working as a mana battery for the new defensive arrays set up to protect Sanctuary. Only two Valkyries remained to defend the settlement despite its growing size, as they were needed elsewhere, Sindra was one of the winged women who left. This meant that Sanctuary now had to seek out alternatives to help alleviate the workload on the remaining two Valkyries, which is where the new defensive arrays came into play. The worst crimes had the harshest of punishments available, but it was ultimately the jury¡¯s call on what those punishments would be within the specified range. One of the harshest was becoming a living mana battery for the arrays, as it was similar to solitary confinement but with mandatory public service. Death was of course another option, with the bodies raised for manual labor to help the community and its growing industries. ¡°The scouts that went to Houston have returned,¡± Robert replied without emotion. ¡°That bad, huh?¡± Drew asked. ¡°No dude! It¡¯s totally fine!!¡± Mark said with a giant smile. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Drew did a double take, ¡°Come again?¡± ¡°Houston has withstood The Descent and all that came after. While many people did die, and parts of the city lie in ruins, the rest still stands as a bastion of humanity. Strong fortified stone walls surround it, guards patrolling them. The people seem to be well-fed and there¡¯s even a Pillar there.¡± Robert answered. ¡°So what¡¯s the problem then? Religious zealots, human sacrifices, an Incursion with a horde of monsters?¡± Drew questioned, his suspicion rising. Even the least damaged towns had some horror that needed to be dealt with. They hadn¡¯t come across a single one that was in good shape overall. Not a single one. Sure, some small settlements existed where cities once were, but much of them had been like Fort Worth where everyone had cobbled together some kind of living while barely hanging on. ¡°There is an Incursion,¡± Robert nodded. Called it. ¡°But the invaders are being repelled and the city is in no immediate danger. The scouts reported that everything seems to be running smoothly for the survivors.¡± Drew shook his head, ¡°Bullshit. This is the apocalypse and Houston was the dirty, humid, human cesspool of Texas before The Descent, there¡¯s no way they survived easily when none of the halfway decent cities fell.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell ya, dude,¡± Mark shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s what the scouts said. I was hanging out with Robert shooting the shit when they came in. But none of that even matters!¡± ¡°That crap city survived and the people are safe but it doesn¡¯t matter?¡± Drew looked at his best friend like he¡¯d been dropped as a child. Mark held up his hands in defense, ¡°It matters, but that¡¯s not the point! My brother is alive and in Houston!¡± Drew¡¯s eyes widened and he broke into a smile before quickly embracing his best friend in a hug, ¡°Congratulations man, I¡¯m happy for you!¡± Every time the scouts set out for a new area they took with them a list of names, friends and family of Sanctuary citizens, in the hopes of finding their loved ones alive or¡­ at least confirmation of their passing. Sanctuary had grown immensely, but the list of names remained relatively small and manageable, the world was a big place after all and Robert¡¯s scout teams had only just begun to finish off their initial sweeps of Texas. Only the southern parts of Oklahoma had been touched upon thus far, but as more people leveled and new mercenary or ¡®adventuring guilds¡¯ opened up in town, an ever-increasing amount of the United States was slowly opening up to them. The Baleful Lady and Hades had once mentioned that once enough Pillars had been placed, global teleportation options would open up, but for the moment Earth had not yet reached the critical mass required for that. ¡°Thanks, man. After not finding any trace of my parents¡­¡± Mark said with sadness before sighing and shaking his head, ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t dare to hope, ya know?¡± Drew let go of the long hug and nodded his head, ¡°I get it. And it¡¯s not like the gods can help us find all our loved ones, Hades said that unless someone prayed to them or got their attention somehow that it would be nearly impossible to find a single low-level human being.¡± ¡°Yeah, he said the same thing when I asked him to look into where my parents are, or whether they¡¯re¡­ gone. I don¡¯t suppose he¡¯s said anything about it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Drew answered in a tone barely above a whisper, ¡°I asked The Lady as well, but she said no one matching your parent¡¯s descriptions had made it to The Halls yet.¡± Mark stayed silent for several moments before nodding his head once, ¡°Thank you for asking. I don¡¯t know if I should be happy or even more concerned about that.¡± It¡¯s entirely possible they managed to survive somehow and are hunkered down somewhere. Or, they could have migrated with a group of other survivors¡­ or something like the Devils or Slosth got to their souls¡­ ¡°Still, that¡¯s fantastic news about your brother,¡± Drew said as he forced himself to smile, ¡°When you are you heading down to meet up with him?¡± Robert stepped forward slightly, ¡°That¡¯s actually why we came out here to meet with you. A team is being put together to¡ª¡± ¡°Could you uh¡­ come with me, please?¡± Mark interrupted. Robert coughed into his hand lightly and his left eyebrow twitched slightly. Internally Drew chuckled that Mark had interrupted Robert in his excitement, but he was also confused on why his best friend asked him to join him. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± ¡°If not then it¡¯s okay and¡­¡± Mark began to backpedal. Drew held up his hand, ¡°No, I¡¯ll definitely go with you. You¡¯re by best friend, it¡¯s the least I could do. I was just about to start summoning a new army is all¡­ but I guess I could do that while we¡¯re on the road. Come to think of it, that would give the Necromancers a chance to practice with the new minions before boosting their numbers too much.¡± Best to ease them into the roles they volunteered for rather than throwing them into the fire. Plus, when we are attacked, it will give them the chance to work out any kinks with commanding the more animalistic undead. ¡°Really? That¡¯s great man!¡± ¡°As I was saying,¡± Robert said while giving Mark a good-natured glare and a smile, ¡°We need to send some diplomats with the team and it would be great if they had adequate protection for the journey, and naturally such a large city like Houston will want to know what we can offer them.¡± Robert was going to ask me to go so Houston sees that we¡¯re not to be taken lightly despite our lower population, and to prevent any ¡®less than kind¡¯ ideas from popping into their heads. Smart. I¡¯m glad he¡¯s in charge of this shit instead of me, I have my hands full as it is. Drew smiled, ¡°I understand. In that case, I should ask Spock and Amber to join as well.¡± ¡°What about Freya?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Oh, she follows Amber everywhere,¡± Drew chuckled, ¡°They¡¯re more of a package deal than Amber and I are. If Amber is going the shepherd will be right by her side.¡± ¡°Good idea, Drew. The team will be ready to leave within a few hours, I recommend preparing for your journey and visiting one of the alchemists to stock up on potions before leaving.¡± I can never have enough potions, especially with all the shit I go through. Too bad they haven¡¯t figured out how to make superior ones yet. Book 3 Ch. 6 Chapter 6 ¡°I am not riding that,¡± Drew said firmly. ¡°I do not understand your distrust of these majestic animals, Drew Wright,¡± Spock said with a shake of his head as he finished latching the saddle onto his mount. ¡°For one, they used to be my chickens. Amber and I raised them from chicks and collected eggs from them every morning. Chickens are not something you ride. Ever.¡± Spock nodded sagely, ¡°I agree, attempting to ride a chicken would be most unwise. However, these are Dickens. They have more in common with emus than their original heritage.¡± ¡°And that is the other reason. I refuse to ride anything with the name of Dicken, and Demonic looking or not, this is not a video game from the east where everyone happily rides them off into the sunset.¡± ¡°I do not understand that reference, Drew Wright.¡± Drew turned to his wife, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you up in arms about this?¡± ¡°Who me?¡± Amber smiled smugly, ¡°Freya just gained to a new ability to increase her size on command, I can ride on her back like she¡¯s a giant dire wolf.¡± A dire wolf is much cooler than a Dicken¡­ but Freya isn¡¯t exactly mount material either. Still, I guess I would choose that over an oversized chicken. ¡°I happened to like those games, so I¡¯ll happily be taking Spock up on his offer,¡± Mark said before adding, ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not like you have a lot of options.¡± Drew glanced into the pastures that lay before him and sighed. Mark was right. There were Dickens aplenty, as they had been reproducing, although a fair few were still ¡®chick-sized¡¯, two donkeys, and about a hundred head or so of cattle. Cows were out of the question, and the donkeys had likely never been ridden, especially by someone of Drew¡¯s size, so it really did only leave the giant birds. The scouts and diplomats joining the party had their own horses, which had been purposely set aside for people of their position, and Drew could have taken one of them, but that felt like a dick move. What kind of leader, or even person, would he be if he took a decent mount from someone he was supposed to lead and left them with a stupid chicken. And the necromancers¡­ Wait a minute! Drew¡¯s head careened as he looked over his shoulder. The undead commanders were still at the gate, each of them looking supremely out of place amongst the diplomats, scouts, and various living people wandering in and out of Sanctuary and going about their business. The undead didn¡¯t need living mounts, they had raised their own. Bingo. Drew smiled in self-satisfaction. ¡°Why do you look like a smug asshole all of a sudden dude?¡± Mark asked with curiosity. Drew brought up his minion templates and filtered the huge list to only show ridable mounts. He scrolled and scrolled through various options as vague ideas and information filled his brain when he glanced at each one. Several of the templates held promise, but only one had him smiling with excitement. [Undead Nightmare] Nightmares are frightening steeds born of fire and horror. It is rare to find one tamed to use as a mount due to their fiery and sometimes explosive demeanor, but the ones that are make for fiercely loyal steeds that are deadly to their enemies and strike terror in the hearts of living beings across the cosmos. This undead variant is equally as striking, but its temperature has chilled in death making for much calmer riding experience for the aspiring Necromancer on the go. Excellent. Drew steepled his hands while smiling at the thought of having such a badass mount. He wouldn¡¯t be riding a dumb chicken today, no sir. Drew cast his arms about and glowing blue lines of light etched themselves into the ground. The lines stretched and grew, flowing into each other and creating runic symbols. The air grew heavy and Drew felt a noticeable amount of weight pressed against his shoulders. As Drew went through the esoteric motions, he ensured that the mount would be a construct, one with more animal-like instincts rather than an artificial soul. Mark, Spock, Amber, and indeed even the Dickens and Freya backed away from the growing circle of runes. The glowing runes split into more runes, and then separate circles, each of which had even more of the strange etchings. The air itself seemed to quake with so much magic being pulled together into one area. The magic and the pressure kept building until it reached a boiling point and everything snapped into place. Blue light and flame shot out from the runic diagram directly towards the sky, and quickly exploded outwards while remaining within the diagram¡¯s perimeter. The very ground cracked and bones flew upwards through the vents in the earth, snapping together with loud cracks that sounded like far-off thunder, and kicked up dust and dirt in the process. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Drew¡¯s hands shot straight upwards and he felt a sizeable chunk of his mana pool drain away. A shriek-like neigh pierced through the air and a heavy thud upon the ground sent a shockwave of air that cleared away all the floating dirt and debris. Standing there where the etchings used to be was Drew¡¯s new mount. His [Undead Nightmare]. Walking up to it, albeit cautiously, Drew was blown away by its sheer size. His head was barely taller than the tip of the creature¡¯s shoulder blade, and he was not a short man. As for its undead features, there was a distinct lack of them much to his surprise. The Nightmare was black as night, with azure flames licking off where its feathered lowered legs were, and the same flames flowed from the creature¡¯s mane. Across the black coat thin blue etching, much like from the runes of the summoning, occasionally pulsed with power. Like most undead, it had blue piercing eyes that glowed. He had only lived in the rural area for a few years, Drew hadn¡¯t grown up around horses nor did he know much about them. But what he did know was the creature standing in front of him was an impressive specimen indeed. ¡°An Undead Nightmare, what a wonderful choice, Champion,¡± The Lady¡¯s voice broke Drew¡¯s focus from the mount as it echoed through his mind. ¡°Are you always watching me?¡± A light laughter came through the mental connection, ¡°No, not always, but I sensed you were up to something and wished to check in.¡± ¡°So, you were making sure I didn¡¯t blow myself up or do something dumb?¡± ¡°That as well, yes. Remember, for most beings it takes many decades to reach C-Grade unless they¡¯ve faced great challenges or accomplished many things. In that time, they usually have a firm grasp on their power, whereas you have only recently achieved it. But I digress, the Nightmare is a wonderful mount and I have a small gift for you.¡± Drew¡¯s curiosity and caution were piqued, ¡°A gift? Why?¡± ¡°Once upon a time, I too rode a Nightmare. It seemed fitting that I gift you with this as befitting your position as my Champion. His eyebrow rose as armor suddenly materialized around the horse, barding of some kind. He had grown accustomed to his armor and its more¡­ edgy aspects, and the armor that formed around the Nightmare had much of the same theme. A chest piece of metal with a large skull, layered grey plate mail around the neck, and a wicked looking helm with spikes covering the creature¡¯s head. The azure flames of the Nightmare¡¯s mane leaked through a slot in the neck armor and danced vividly, and strange thigh armor with horned skulls protected the steed¡¯s upper leg joints before coming together to create a saddle. ¡°This looks expensive, are you sure it¡¯s okay to just give this to a mortal? Wouldn¡¯t it cost a bunch of divine energy or whatever?¡± Whoever had originally said ¡®don¡¯t look a gift horse in the mouth¡¯ obviously never had a supreme goddess of death handing them gifts. Drew was more comfortable with the goddess now than he had been originally, but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew she must have some ulterior motive for helping him. ¡°This is a personal item that belonged to me when I was once mortal, the only cost was transportation. Do not worry yourself over that, besides Sindra and her sisters are too preoccupied to act as couriers right now.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± Drew said with hesitation before feeling the mental line close. The Nightmare shook its head slightly which caused the platemail to lightly clank against itself, and then stomped one of its feet as Drew crept closer to the mount. The mental connection that led from Drew to the mount allowed him to feel what the horse was, at least in a muted form, and he noticed that it seemed to like him while being remaining a little cautious towards the people behind him. Interesting¡­ so undead of this nature really are more like animals. He seems friendly at least. Drew felt reassured as he placed his right hand near the horse¡¯s muzzle and gently patted it through the barding. A happy feeling came through his mental connection and Drew figured everything was going to be okay. ¡°Uh, dude¡­ can I take back what I said about the Dicken and get one of those instead?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Sorry, no taksie-backsies. You can stick with your Dicken, and I¡¯ll enjoy this undead hotrod instead,¡± Drew said over his shoulder with a smile. The Nightmare let out a neigh which sounded like a thousand shrieking souls being sucked into a deep pit. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t think he likes you,¡± Drew laughed. *** Drew and crew made their way towards Houston in style. Spock and Mark on their dumb chickens, Amber on Freya¡¯s back, and Drew on his awesome looking new Nightmare, which he of course named Shadow. His naming sense and creativity were never his strong suites, besides Shadow was a badass name. It took a while for both Drew and Shadow to get used to each other, but the mount quickly warmed up to him, but not in the way one would expect from a horse with blue fire. When The System said that the mount¡¯s temperament had chilled in death, it wasn¡¯t joking. Small patches of frost were left in its wake as it galloped across the concrete interstate highways, and while the flames the Nightmare sprouted weren¡¯t hot to Drew, they did make him shiver a bit if he wasn¡¯t careful and let them flicker by his armor. As for everyone else, they seemed to be in good spirits. Especially Mark and, given the circumstances, Drew couldn¡¯t blame him. Finding out his brother was alive was an extremely happy moment. Miranda, Mark¡¯s wife, had decided to stay home though as she had duties to attend to as Hades¡¯ newest priestess. It¡¯s a shame she couldn¡¯t come as well, but at least she finally chose a damn god so her class works fully now. Kinda sucks that she¡¯s tied up and going to nearby human settlements to preach the good word of kindness and undeath. Drew chuckled to himself. He did not envy Miranda¡¯s responsibilities. Drew was interrupted from his thoughts as Mark came up riding on his pink and purple chicken, his best friend elbowing him in his side and he held a finger over his lips. Drew cocked his head to the side only to see Mark pull a tennis ball out from his spatial inventory and then gesture over towards Amber and Freya. Oh boy, he¡¯s going to get himself shot with an arrow if he¡¯s not careful. Drew just shrugged while smiling under his helm. One way or another this would end up as a funny story. Mark launched the tennis ball with all his strength, ¡°Fetch!¡± Freya¡¯s ears perked up and her head shot towards Mark and then the ball. The mount-sized Freya shot off into the distance like a rocket, jumping off the overpass they were on and onto a frontage road down below to chase the ball. ¡°MARK!!!¡± Amber¡¯s accusing screams were heard as a distantly retreating promise of revenge as the dog took Amber out of sight and into the trees. ¡°She¡¯s going to shoot you, ya know?¡± Drew snickered. ¡°It¡¯ll be worth it.¡± Book 3 Ch. 7 Chapter 7 ¡°M¡¯lord,¡± a raspy yet slightly feminine voice called out as one of Drew¡¯s new Necromancer volunteers came trotting up beside him on her own undead horse. All undead had a distinctive sound to their voices, but this specific individual sounded like she had spent her life in the casinos and smoking a carton a day until she died. ¡°Warden is fine,¡± Drew said as he acknowledged her with a nod of his head, ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Slyna, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Warden,¡± she answered without outward emotion. Drew waited for several moments and when it became apparent that the Necromancer was waiting to be addressed again, he inwardly groaned. He had really been hoping that Rex would have decided to join him and lead the subcommanders, but he also understood that Rex was acting as the leader of his people, especially after Steve, his co-leader, had happily rejoined Drew. ¡°What can I do for you, Slyna?¡± ¡°The other Awoken have elected me to be our collective representative.¡± Drew¡¯s brows furrowed, ¡°Awoken?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the name our people have chosen to refer to themselves as since you granted our freedom.¡± Interesting¡­ At least it isn¡¯t a name that will fill me with constant guilt. ¡°Congratulations, I guess?¡± Drew didn¡¯t know how the Awoken¡¯s new society viewed leadership. It had been thrust upon Drew over time and while he had originally hated it a great deal he had recently come to feel ¡®reluctant acceptance¡¯ towards the role. Shit needed to get done, and he had the power and drive to do it. Really though, Robert is the main guy doing all the heavy lifting. I¡¯m more of a guiding voice than anything else. I don¡¯t know enough about politics to know what type of society that makes us and I get the feeling that if I went out of my way to learn, I probably wouldn¡¯t like the answer. ¡°Thank you, Warden. The others have been asking questions regarding our position and charge.¡± Drew tilted his head slightly before it clicked, ¡°Ah. The idea was to have you and your peers, the uh¡­ Awoken, to act as commanders in a new army, one where no further of your kind would be created to fill the roles. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard that much prior to volunteering though.¡± ¡°That is correct, Warden. We¡¯d like to know more details, a timeline, what will be expected of us.¡± Good, at least she can be somewhat blunt and I don¡¯t have to pull teeth to get to the gist of what she wants to say¡­ mostly. The mission to Houston was well underway, and the party had just left the outskirts of what was once Dallas. They were a little less than halfway to their destination, and had already come across a few small settlements of human survivors. Dallas specifically had a moderate sized settlement with actual walls, much like the Resistance near Fort Worth had. But like Fort Worth, the Dallas settlement was lacking a [Pillar of Civilization], so life was much more difficult to the people living there without the assistance and recognition of The System. Sanctuary had tried, over and over, to convince people to immigrate. A Pillar offered relative safety, a new economy, and the opportunity to grow with aid. Unfortunately, some people were both stubborn and determined to make a life for themselves where they were now. Sometimes such decisions were based on logical reasoning, like the area being mostly clear from immediate threats, or disliking the idea of the undead that Drew used. That knowledge had slowly spread and had deterred several groups of people from considering Sanctuary as a potential new home. ¡°I¡¯d like to create a mental tether between your people and myself, much like we once had, but without The System forcing anything upon you. It would solely act as a form of communication between us, and then I could move the threads of my future army to your control. I would issue orders do y¡¯all directly, and then y¡¯all would relay them to the best of your ability to the minions,¡± Drew explained. ¡°I see. The others thought that might be the case.¡± Drew frowned at the words, ¡°Is that a problem?¡± ¡°We wish to offer a compromise. The proposed mental thread will connect you and myself only, and then I create separate threads to my fellow Awoken.¡± Ah¡­ they¡¯re still not one hundred percent sure of whether to trust me or not. Oof¡­ so they elected Slyna as the proverbial guinea pig. If I were to take control somehow, only she would be affected and they would remain free. Hmm¡­ and it also means I cannot issue orders to the other Awoken commanders directly unless its verbal commands, something that The System doesn¡¯t enforce. And there¡¯s a risk to me as well. The commanders could just fuck off and take my army with them and I¡¯d have to manually kill the fleeing minions to free up my cap. So, they¡¯re basically using my minion cap and future minions as potential hostages should I have nefarious plans. That¡¯s smart. Really smart. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t prevent me from slaughtering everything due to the power of my Baleful Warden profession, but any other Necromancer would be in a quiet the pickle. Well, if we¡¯re going to build trust between us then this is really a small price to pay considering I have my profession to mitigate my risk and outside of becoming a Lich myself there really isn¡¯t another option. I need these Awoken more than they need me. ¡°That¡¯s an acceptable proposal. I wish to build trust between our people over time and this would help facilitate that. You are aware that you¡¯ll be dealing with handing out orders in much the same way that Rex was? That¡¯s not easy.¡± Slyna remained quiet for a long moment, ¡°I understand.¡± Whether she was communicating with her peers, which was likely, or lost in her own thoughts, Drew couldn¡¯t be sure. There was a chance that the other Awoken had been prepared to bolt at the first sign of trouble and she was relaying his response to them. ¡°As for the complexity of the position¡­ well, it won¡¯t be easy. Probably easier for y¡¯all than it is for me, given that you¡¯re undead. The minions I seek to raise won¡¯t be sapient, they¡¯ll be more animalistic like Shadow here,¡± Drew said as he patted the side of the Nightmare¡¯s armored neck. This time, Drew turned to regard Slyna more personally. She was of the ¡®less¡¯ undead type, more pale skin and muscle than just bones. Still gaunt, and with blue glowing eyes, but not unattractive for a being without a heartbeat. Black shoulder length hair complemented her otherwise armored figure. As for the armor itself, it appeared to be steel or something similar, but darkened. Not as dark as Drew¡¯s own edgelord armor, but still. As for her reaction, there wasn¡¯t any. At least not outwardly. Like Maud, she seemed to take in the information, process it, and then reflect on it without any facial movement or cues at all. Cold would be the wrong word to describe it, she was just¡­ undead. Only a few undead had proven themselves eccentric enough to have bigger outward personalities. Like Steve, and Rex¡­ I guess Chaz too. I wonder if he¡¯s still around. ¡°I understand, Warden. Is there a proposed timeline?¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Drew mulled it over. Creating an army on the road wouldn¡¯t be too difficult, especially given his seated position on Shadow, but it would be better to start work when they stopped for the night. The human scouts and diplomats still needed a fair amount of rest as they were low to mid D-Grade at best. ¡°We can begin tonight when we make camp.¡± *** ¡°So what¡¯s the plan, dude?¡± Mark asked. Drew smiled to his friend as Amber, Freya, and Spock joined them around the clearing. The rest of the party was settling in for the night, hitching tents and erecting temporary bone walls courtesy for the twenty or so Boneweavers that had joined him for the trip. Taking all the Boneweavers with them would have slowed down their progress, and right now getting to Mark¡¯s brother was more important than outfitting an entire army quickly. That was, of course important, but a small trip to Houston to retrieve Mark¡¯s brother took precedence. After all, Mark was his best friend and Drew owed him many times over. Delaying the full army creation for a week or so was an acceptable trade. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like he was not going to be doing anything. The Awoken needed to get used to the animalistic minions first, hopefully while they were out and about and could run into trouble. If there were any kinks that needed hammering out, it would be better to do it now than against something like a dangerous sapient Incursion. ¡°The plan is, once Slyna gets here I¡¯ll create a mental thread to her so we can communicate telepathically. Once that¡¯s in place, anything I raise can be handed over to her, and then she can pass them to her fellow Awoken.¡± ¡°We are here in case the situation turns out poorly then, Drew Wright?¡± Drew gave Spock a thumbs up, ¡°Yup. It shouldn¡¯t come to that, but these are new undead I¡¯ll be summoning and then handing over to people that I have no direct control over.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re concerned about these Awoken, then why are they over in their own encampment meditating? Shouldn¡¯t they be closer if shit turns sour?¡± Amber asked. ¡°BOOF!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a show of trust,¡± Drew said before pausing, ¡°Remember, they were enslaved, by me no less, I have to allow them some distance and relative safety so we can build that trust. They know I never intended to have real people forced to live and die under my whim, but I can imagine that it¡¯s a traumatic experience that will take a while to heal from. Undead or not.¡± It was around this time that Slyna came walking up towards the group from the Awoken¡¯s encampment and she strode forth with purpose. There was no way to know for sure what she was thinking, but Drew could imagine that some part of her assumed that she was willfully walking towards future enslavement. And the sad part? Her comrades would never know for sure, because even if she told them she was okay, that Drew hadn¡¯t done anything awful, how could they believe her? She had just gained her freedom mere months ago, and now she was going to turn into a pariah. Her words would never be fully trusted by her peers, for how could they know if the words she spoke were truly hers or if they were Drew¡¯s? It made Drew¡¯s stomach churn, but he knew there was no way around this. It was either this, or turning undead himself, and he very much wanted the opportunity to have children. He wanted that option. Was he selfish for allowing a single woman to ostracize herself so he could have that chance? Maybe. Would it end up building the trust that he hoped it would with the Awoken? He had no idea. But what choice did he truly have? Every choice was a bad choice, but he didn¡¯t think that choosing his potential future family over the reputation of another person made him evil. Maybe a dick, yes. But not evil. Those are the words he told himself, yet they rang hollow. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Drew asked. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re sure you want to do this?¡± He didn¡¯t need to explain the situation to her, for she surely understood it far better than he could imagine. ¡°Yes, I was elected fairly for this role and it¡¯s my duty to fulfill it, Warden.¡± So the other Awoken might never have to¡­ Drew inwardly sighed. With no other words, and only an internal acknowledgement of the bravery of the woman in front of him, Drew nodded his head and began his work. Using [Mana Manipulation] and his Aura, Drew began to forge a new mental thread between him and Slyna. Such a thing was impossible for him to create with Amber, Mark, or Spock, for they were still living. The only reason he could manage to create such a thing in the first place was because Slyna was undead. And his class specialized in the undead. It was the same reason Slyna could create threads to her peers, although in this case Drew was far more adept at its creation due to his skills and experience in using them. Doing such a deed would normally require a ritual spellwork, but Drew was able to bypass that. His skills weren¡¯t a get out of jail for free card however. Anyone with the same experience and skills he had would be able to do the same, and there were limits to what one might achieve. The System, as Drew had so painfully learned, did not like being fucked with. There were unspoken and esoteric rules. He could work within the confines of said rules, but if he broke them¡­ PING! Mental Thread connection established. Sapient Undead detected¡­ Acquire Control? Yes/No No, I do not want to control her. Selection Confirmed. Assign role? Yes/No ¡°Hey, sorry to bother you, but I¡¯m establishing a mental thread connection with one of the sapient undead and The System is asking me if I wish to assign a role. What¡¯s that mean?¡± Drew sent off to Hades. He would normally ask The Lady this kind of stuff, but Hades had become a friendly face recently and he felt more okay bothering him than asking the almighty Primordial about something likely to be mundane in nature. That, and as much as he ignored it, the gut feeling that The Lady had her own designs had never fully left him, despite the rather casual relationship he was afforded. ¡°Whoa, Kid, twice now? I¡¯m proud that you¡¯re learning to ask questions, but you may want to check in with the boss Lady once in a while too,¡± Hades replied. ¡°She¡¯s a Primordial, and you¡¯re here on Earth, I don¡¯t want to incur long distance charges.¡± A chuckle came through the connection, ¡°Funny, but you know as well as I that you can speak with her at any time. Also, for the record, this is merely an Avatar. I currently have several on Earth, but my main body is back at The Halls of Reflection.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ so about this role thing?¡± ¡°Right. The System is basically asking what you want the connection for, it only does this if you choose to establish a thread with a sapient undead that you decline control of. Just send your thought to The System that you want her to act as a commander of your army and it¡¯ll do the rest. And don¡¯t muck about by saying anything else.¡± ¡°Got it. Commander for my army. Nothing else.¡± ¡°Yup, good chat, Kid. Take care!¡± Drew returned to the hovering text in his vision and in his mind. Assign Role? Yes/No I want her to be the commander of my army. Selection confirmed. Commander Role assigned. The text faded from view, and Drew was left standing in the middle of the clearing like someone with his head in the clouds. ¡°It¡¯s done. Go ahead and test the connection.¡± Drew felt some light, almost cautious probing of the mental thread between him and Slyna, almost as if she was lightly touching it with a single finger while standing as far away as possible. After several moments he began to feel vibrations on the connection, like she was strumming a guitar string. ¡°Hello, Warden?¡± ¡°Yup, I¡¯m here. You getting the hang of it?¡± ¡°I do not understand¡­ I remain still unshackled.¡± ¡°Duh. I told Rex and everyone else that I didn¡¯t want Sapient beings under lock and key.¡± ¡°But¡­ the others believed there was a credible risk¡­¡± ¡°Look, think about it this way. Why would I go to all the trouble of enslaving people that I already freed? If I wanted a sapient army, I¡¯d just create a new one. I was stuck, my minion cap is very high, but I¡¯m alive and my brain cannot handle all the mental threads of that many minions without me bleeding out my eyes and ears and then dying. At least not when issuing commands.¡± ¡°You wish for the Awoken to ease your burden?¡± ¡°I thought that was obvious. It was either that, or I become a Lich and that¡¯s not an option I wished to pursue. Are your people that distrustful of me?¡± ¡°We are divided and have reached no general consensus in regards to your¡­ intentions. Regardless of our current freedom, many still remember being forced by The System to follow your orders, even if they went against our own wishes. A great many are wary and cautious of you, despite our rather favorable view of the mortals under your care.¡± ¡°Ouch. That¡¯s not entirely unexpected though, I think most people would feel similar if they had been in the Awoken¡¯s position. On the bright side, at least your people don¡¯t lump the innocent people of Sanctuary in with my personal mistake.¡± ¡°Some believe it was an honest mistake and think highly of you for freeing us as promptly as you did, even seeking divine aid from Lord Hades in freeing us.¡± ¡°Drew Wright, is everything okay?¡± Spock asked. Oops¡­ forgot I was talking to her in my head. ¡°Yeah, everything is golden so far. The connection is in place, it¡¯s working, and now we can move on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great news, dude.¡± Mark smiled. ¡°Indeed,¡± Spock joined in by smiling as well. ¡°So, what about the critters you¡¯re going to summon?¡± Amber asked. Right¡­ the army. Drew glanced between his friends and sharpened his eyes. Mark nodded lightly in understanding and corralled Spock, Amber, and Freya as they walked away to give Drew some space to work. If anything shifty was going to happen, they¡¯d be able to respond to it immediately. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±