The Lich’s threat lingered against the silence.
If I turn you, I fear our chubby little yellow friend might strip you of your skills. I would prefer you give me that Access Rune while you live.
The Lich getting my Access Rune would be disastrous for Farcrest and the kingdom. However, the only thing I could think about was the underlying mystery. The existence of the System Avatar was supposed to be a secret, even for the Zealots. The System was supposed to be a mindless, bodiless presence that permeated all living things and existed to protect the people from the monster of the Farlands, not a chubby man dressed in khakis.
“What are you?” I asked.
“I just told you. I’m a wizard,” the Lich replied, his cold voice echoing through the forest. “Now, if you please. I need that Access Rune. Corruption is growing at an alarming rate, and I plan to survive.”
Instinctively, I channeled mana into my sword. The blade shone with a blue hue. [Foresight] hijacked my brain and fed me everything I needed to know about the surroundings. The world turned gray as the skill discarded the superfluous information. I could only assume an Elven Chrysalimorph inherited the nimbleness typical of elves but with the defensive advantages of the chitinous armor.
A crown of green mana surrounded the Lich’s head. Arcs of blinding mana scorched the bark of the pines and the dried ferns. My heart raced, and cold sweat covered my forehead. I felt a void in my stomach, like that one time a hurricane surprised my parents and me during our holiday. I felt overwhelmed by the power of the elements, and now, the same feeling has reappeared. I wasn’t before a mere undead but a walking natural disaster.
The Lich’s mana signature was different from what I remembered. Even its color was different—green and gold instead of the freezing blue. The monster examined his hands and stretched his new body. He jumped up, almost weightless, and fell like a feather. He was more agile than Zaon.
I wanted to lunge and end the fight as fast as possible, but I remembered my coach's words: don't risk everything in your first attack; measure your opponent first. I took a deep breath, recalling all the tips and tricks I had been teaching the kids. I was going to need it.
The Lich shaped his mana into a long, vibrant blade.
“What a curious body,” he said.
The Lich lunged first, stretching his body to stab my head. [Foresight] showed me the Lich’s trajectory a millisecond ahead of time. I leaned back, the Lich’s sword passing barely a centimeter away from my eyes, then sprang forward and stabbed his windpipe. A normal human would’ve been dead, but the bark-like skin protected him from actual harm. Chrysalimorphs didn’t have nostrils, so I wasn’t sure if my attack would’ve been effective, even if it pierced the armor.
With a sidestep, I disengaged.
Despite the chrysalimorph’s stony expression, I knew he was confused. No one expected a Scholar to be so nimble. Not even the undead.
[Foresight] showed me a phantom of the Lich an instant before he moved. The vision gave me enough time to react. I parried the green mana sword, producing a burst of sparks. Then, with a swift counter, I hit the Lich’s wrist, where the armor was weaker. I penetrated the bark-like skin but failed to sever the hand. The next moment, I was out.
A thin stream of blood dripped onto the ground.
“Swordsmanship? You are a Scholar,” he said.
I was a Scholar, a teacher, an amateur HEMA practitioner, the “worst half” of a great woman, and the caretaker of a dozen riotous orphans. Scholar was just the class the System gave me.
“You are from Earth, aren’t you?” I said, putting enough distance between us to avoid any surprise attack.
“I wonder if my memory still goes far back.” The Lich raised his guard and attacked.
I didn’t waste mana on a shield. I could foresee his attacks. The Lich quickened his pace as he got used to his new body. I parried and sliced his forearm’s armor. His fencing was precise but unimaginative. As long as we continued dueling, I was at an advantage. The Lich tried to stab my hand, but [Foresight] showed me the killing blow. I dodged and aimed for the Lich’s heart, but my mana blade bounced on the chitinous armor.
I dodged, parried, and countered. The memories of the Lich’s body carried him through the fight. His mana blade buzzed like a high-voltage wire, and I had to tone down my mana sense so as not to be blinded. A single touch would cut me to shreds, but [Swordsmanship] and [Foresight] kept me a step ahead. The Lich tried hard to get me. His feet barely touched the ground, and his elven frame was deceptively strong. With every second that passed, he became faster, getting used to his new body.
My back hit an old pine. I stepped around just as the Lich’s sword pierced the bark, almost cutting down the tree. The fight was dragging, and I was losing ground. The old pine cracked and leaned to the side. The Lich retreated, and I seized the moment to get away.
I rolled over an old rotten log and grabbed a handful of pebbles. I drew the runes without taking my eyes off the Lich. Eleven-rune enchantments took me a good part of an hour, but I didn’t plan to enchant anything that complex. A single-use item would suffice. I engraved Fire, Instantaneous, Hourglass, and Detect. Then, I compressed as much mana as I could inside the pebbles. Luckily, the stones had an affinity for Fire runes. I prayed that I wouldn’t blow up my fingers.
My win condition was to damage the Lich’s body beyond usage. Without arms, he would be unable to wield the sword, and without feet, he would be unable to flee. I just hoped the fuse—Hourglass—worked correctly. The enchantments drained my mana pool, sending a shiver down my spine. Using my mana pool was faster than purifying mana from the Fountain, but it chunked my reserves.
New recipe achieved!
Updating Rune Encyclopedia.
Makeshift Conflagration Bomb added to the recipes tab.
I ignored the ‘makeshift’ part.
The Lich jumped over the rotten log, and I retreated to the other side of the clearing. He seemed in no rush to chase me around. I grabbed a decoy pebble, charged it with mana, and threw it. The Lich raised his sword and mindlessly cut it in half. I wondered if the Lich would notice the difference between a mana-charged pebble and an enchanted one. I grinned. My makeshift incendiary grenades might be more effective than I initially envisioned.
I grabbed an enchanted pebble and charged the Hourglass rune. Based on Holst’s Enchanted Timer, I calculated a second and a half worth of mana. [Foresight] told me it was enough, but I wouldn’t trust my fingers on a non-organic intelligence. Fencing was okay because I was, ultimately, in control. Explosives were a completely different business.
The Lich prepared to lunge, and I shot the pebble.
As expected, the Lich cut it in half. The enchantment, however, didn’t seem to like that. I raised my mana shield. The runic circuits backfired, and the pebble exploded, sending shrapnel deep into the bark armor. The explosion could’ve killed an average person, but the Lich only staggered and grunted.
“Good. Your lack of powerful enchanted trinkets had me worried. For a moment, I thought our chubby yellow friend had given you a more mundane mission,” the Lich said.
I threw two enchanted pebbles, but the Lich avoided touching them this time. The pebbles fell at his feet. One and a half second fuse had been too generous. A moment passed, and the enchanted pebbles exploded in a fireball. The heatwave hit my face, and I thanked the gods that I hadn’t messed up the enchantments of the Warm Stones. I wanted my orphanage as free of explosions as possible.
“Enough tricks,” the Lich said, emerging from the firewall. His voice felt like two glaciers clashing against each other.
The fireball slowly died, leaving scorch marks on the ground and smoky brambles around the Lich. The shrapnel had caused more damage than the flaming explosions. Still, the damage was piling up no matter how sturdy the chrysalimorph’s body was. Deep grooves covered the armor around the Lich’s hands and wrists, and cracks formed in the chitin on his arms and shoulders. I just needed to push a little more to disable him.
I kept my guard up, wondering why he hadn’t used any spells yet.
“I’m starting to understand this body,” the Lich said to himself.
The Lich’s mana sword vanished, and he raised his fists. Unlike Wolf practicing his punches against the grove trees behind the orphanage, the elven chrysalimorph looked almost underwhelming. I raised my guard, nonetheless. Swords always won against fists, but my opponent was a high-level undead with an armored body and no pain receptors.
Alarms went off in my brain as the Lich used [Quick Step]. I dodged to the side, and the armored fists grazed my shoulder. With a single blow, my shirt was reduced to rags. The Lich launched forward, and I raised the mana barrier. He was swift, almost invisible to the naked eye, but [Foresight] helped me keep up with the movements. I could see his phantom figure an instant ahead, but that wasn’t enough to escape his attack.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
I countered, aiming at his hand, but he surrounded his fists with a thick green mana barrier. My only saving grace was that my sword was longer than his arms, but even with that advantage, my attacks were shallow compared to the violence of his blows. The Lich suddenly quickened his pace. Whoever was the body's original owner must’ve been a skilled brawler because, with each passing second, the Lich unlocked new tricks. The fight turned, and I was the one getting cornered.
I couldn’t afford to get wounded, so I fell back. I noticed that no matter the state of combat, the Lich wasn’t aiming at my head. He wasn’t going to risk killing me before getting the Access Rune. I adopted a lower guard that was more suitable to defend from body blows.
The Lich jabbed thin air as I retreated. He stepped to the side and bypassed my sword. I was about to raise my mana shield, but the phantom created by [Foresight] diverted—a high kick from the left or a right hook. It was a coin flip. The elven chrysalimorph’s body was too fast, even for all my skills working together. I decided to block the hook.
I called it wrong.
I raised my mana barrier an instant too late and felt my arm cracking under the kick’s pressure. The ground moved away from my feet, and I was sent flying through the thicket. I crashed against the rotten log. The hit made my lungs collapse. I fought for air, my vision becoming blurry. [Foresight] silenced the pain, and I knew what went wrong. I should’ve attacked instead of defending.
The Lich stopped a few meters from me while I used the rotten log to stand up. “Give me the Access Rune, and I will spare you.”
My sword hand was intact.
“A single kick isn’t enough to make me yield,” I replied.
“I thought so.” The Lich channeled his mana, and the [Black Storm] raged.
Viscous black mana rose from the ground and blew through the trees. Disrupting my senses was a good idea, but it was noon, and the [Black Storm] barely darkened the forest. There was enough light to detect anything within a couple dozen-meter radius. I was so focused on the Lich before me that I didn't expect the roar behind my back. I jumped to the side just as a monster landed on the rotten log, reducing it to splinters.
Orcish Chrysalimorph Lv.?? (Vessel of the Undead Forest Warden).
A two-and-a-half-meter-tall orc covered in green chitinous armor rose before me. His arms and legs were as thick as the pines surrounding the clearing. Unlike the undead orc we had encountered earlier, this one had only two tusks. It must’ve been a member of Wolf’s tribe whose body was captured by the root system.
The orc barreled towards me. I jumped out of his way, and the pine behind me was turned into splinters. The old tree smashed against the ground, creating a natural wall between me and the Lich. The orc chrysalimorph, however, had already turned around and eyed me with ill intent.
I cursed and summoned two mana blades. There was no setting where I would let that thing come near me. If the Lich’s kick had rattled my bones, the orc chrysalimorph was going to turn me into red porridge. My swords spun around the orc’s head like mosquitoes annoying an old elephant. No matter how much mana I pushed into the spell, the green chitin remained unscathed.
The Lich jumped over the fallen pine. In a fight, one versus two was a death sentence. I needed to run. I darted to the left, but the Lich was faster and blocked my path. I turned right. The orc chrysalimorph came forward, and green and gold mana lit his skin from underneath the chitin. I looked over my shoulder. The root system, barely visible through the [Black Storm], blocked the way north. I wasn’t going to add the Swarm into the equation.
“Crap,” I muttered.
I needed a plan. Urgently.
The orc swiped me from my feet with a single blow of the back of his hand. [Foresight] saw it coming, but I was too slow to react. My mana shield absorbed most of the blow, but I was sent flying like a ragdoll nonetheless. My bones cracked and rattled like I was a maraca. I’ve never been run over by a car, but I thought it should feel the same. Feeling dazed, I jumped to my feet and pressed more mana into my sword. The spell quivered, losing definition around the edges.
I drew three runes on the blade: User, Absorption, and Reinforcement.
New recipe achieved!
Updating Rune Encyclopedia.
Makeshift Reinforced Sword added to the recipes tab.
I had no time to ponder the meaning of ‘makeshift’ because the Lich charged at me. It was a feint. The orc approached by my blind spot, but [Foresight] saw him coming. I tried to flee, but the Lich and the orc synchronized perfectly. I barely blocked the orc’s blow using three mana swords, but the attack left me open to a barrage of jabs from the Lich. The bark fists dug into my body. My mana barrier saved my life. Barely. I stumbled, using my mana swords as a defensive measure. However, a kick from the orc shattered the swords and the barrier and launched me like a bullet across the clearing.
The fallen pine cushioned my landing. More and more alarms went off in my brain. One of my fingers was bent at an odd angle, but that was the lesser of my worries. I was bleeding, my muscles felt like liquid jam, and my ribs caused an uncomfortable pressure against my chest. My mana pool was the only part of me that remained at a safe level, but I couldn’t find a way to use it efficiently. The chrysalimorph’s bodies were too hard to penetrate, even with my mana blade at maximum power, and my enchantments were still fairly basic. Not counting the fact that offensive runes had a power limiter imposed by the System.
Even a full-powered Fire rune wasn’t enough to damage the Lich.
“As I said, this is how our fight will be,” the Lich said. “I’m a reasonable person. Give me the Access Rune, and I will spare you for now. I know you have one.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the Fountain. I was transported into my mana pool. The dark interior was instantly set alight by the runes covering the walls. I couldn’t understand them. Not even [Rune Identification] allowed me to know their names. I couldn’t use any skill there, as if the System had suddenly stopped working. I ignored the runes. I needed to access the Fountain.
I had entombed the Lich once. If I could use true magic again, I might be able to do something. Anything. I tried to recall that sensation of power, of authority over magic, but a section of the wall lit up, preventing me from accessing the Fountain. My Corruption was almost completely healed. The walls of my mana pool were up and working again, save for small slits between runes. I saw the bright sun floating in the middle of nothingness, but I couldn’t do anything to break through.
I opened my eyes and raised my hands.
“I’ll join you,” I said.
A piece was missing, and only the Lich could give it to me.
I might use my mana beyond the System's limits and create Corruption myself, but I couldn’t ensure that the right section of the wall would get corrupted. One misstep and I could compromise my ability to do magic altogether. I could shatter the saddle, but nothing ensured I could ride the horse afterward. If things took the wrong turn, I might be turned into one of those early humans with barely a touch of magic. And that would be a death sentence.
“I’ll join you,” I repeated.
The Lich laughed, and the cold sound made me freeze in place. “I will not make the same mistake twice, Wizard. Don’t get me wrong. I would love to turn you into my servant, but the risk is very high. I know what you can do.”
I raised my mana shield just as the Lich punched me in the gut. I bent forward, gasping for air. [Foresight] dampened my pain response, but being breathless was different. I coughed.
“The rune, please. Carve it in my hand,” the Lich said.
I had to spit blood to speak clearly.
“Runes don’t like to go on bodies,” I replied.
“The System doesn’t like you to put runes on bodies. Runes can go on bodies. I used to have one,” the Lich said.
I remembered the visions of the Bard Song. The System Avatar, or his original self, was trapped in a cage. There, he had carved the Access Rune in the palm of his hand.
“What are you going to do if I carve the rune?” I asked.
I needed to make time.
The Lich sighed. “Curious as ever. With an Access Rune, I will find a System Crystal and make a few adjustments. Don’t you happen to know where the nearest one is, do you?” The Lich looked at me with his electric blue eyes, and I felt a wave of frozen water hit my chest. I couldn’t breathe. “You do. Tell me.”
I had the System Avatar's mysterious number, but I could hardly call it a set of coordinates. Not that I would ever allow it to fall on the Lich’s hands. He stood before me, waiting for an answer.
“Where is the System Crystal?” He demanded.
I spat blood. “Up your asshole.”
The orcish crysalimorph punched me. My face struck the humid ground. It took my brain a moment to stop bouncing inside my skull and another second to figure out where I was up and down. The orcish crysalimorph grabbed me from the rags of my shirt and pushed me against the fallen pine.
My existence hurt.
“Okay…” I mumbled. My left eyelid swelled to the point I could barely see. “I’ll do it. But you have to promise you’ll let me go, and you’ll keep your undead away from my orphanage.”
The orcish crysalimorph lowered his fist.
“I promise,” the Lich said.
“Swear it,” I replied.
The Lich raised his hand, his thumb on the pinky and his other fingers up. “I swear on my honor. Is that good enough for you, brownie?”
I nodded and spat a mix of saliva and blood. “Give me a second. My vision is still shaky.”
I used the branches to straighten up. I rummaged through my potion pouch—luckily, all vials remained intact—and shugged a stamina potion and a mana potion. It felt like a shot of caffeine directly into my hypothalamus. The Lich allowed me to continue, seemingly recognizing the potions.
“Extend your hand, and don’t move until I say so. It’s my first time putting a rune on an animated being,” I said.
The Lich obeyed.
At first, the System refused to imprint the rune, but as per Lich’s orders, I forced my way over the System’s intent. I worked deliberately slow. Despite knowing about the System Avatar, the Lich knew nothing about runes. I suppressed a grin. No one with the slightest knowledge of the drawbacks of enchanting would allow an enemy to runeweave on their bodies.
“This is my first time engraving the Access Rune. You might want to give it some mana to see if it worked,” I said. “Or don’t. I already kept my part of the deal. Now, let me go.”
I tried to walk past the Lich, but the orcish chrysalimorph pushed me back against the pine log. The Lich examined his hand, but I knew he couldn’t see the rune, just like he couldn’t tell ordinary magic-charged pebbles from my makeshift bombs. He, at least, sensed my mana flowing into his hand and doing ‘something’.
“The rune is there. Give it mana, and it should react,” I said.
“I had an Access Rune once. I know what to expect,” the Lich said. “Remember, Wizard. Even if you set me on fire or freeze me from the inside, this body will not die. And if you betray me, I will not be so kind to your orphanage.”
My mouth was dry. Maybe my plan wasn’t as foolproof as I expected. The Lich channeled his mana into the rune, and I raised my mana shield. The circuit misfired. Two runes couldn’t occupy the same space. Uncontrolled mana surged up the Lich’s arm, crackling and sizzling.
“Damned wizard!” The Lich yelled as his arm exploded, and a mana wave shook the forest surrounding us.
Seizing the moment of confusion, I started to runeweave on my own body.