"Hmmm", Nosran hummed a bit. Then he leaned forward and took steps closer to Kaden. Uncomfortably close. "My my... I'm curious, which fellow necromancer made these chimeric adjustments on you. Wonderful work. Truly."

Kaden took a step back.

"That is a personal matter", Kaden replied calmly. He was still going to play nice.

"I'm specialize in souls and death", Nosran continued. "Altering living matter isn't my thing, but I understand the idea. How curious. I cannot determine which beast you were merged with. It wasn't just the faulty eyes that the zombie had through which I first saw you."

Nosran stepped closer again and looked at Kaden with fascination as if he was looking at some interesting new result from a lab experiment. By the time Nosran was clearly intending to start prodding Kaden, he intervened.

"As I said, its personal", Kaden pointed out and pushed away Nosran's hand. "How about we discuss business."

"Ah, yes, thats why you came here", Nosran nodded casually. It was as if he had forgotten for a moment why Kaden was there. Then he pointed towards a room next to them.

There was a table in the room and chairs around it. Clearly intended for eating with several people or perhaps a meeting room. At any rate, Nosran sat down and motioned Kaden to do the same.

"Dear! Bring some tea, would you!" Nosran shouted.

"You work here with someone else?" Kaden asked. "I thought necromancer's work is rather... solitary. If you don't count the zombies and wraiths that wander about."

"You are right, it is kind of solitary", Nosran nodded. "People tend to have some distaste for it. I assume you don't have any problems?"

"Power is power", Kaden replied. "I don't question what people do for it."

"How pragmatic", Nosran nodded again. "If more people were so open minded, things would be so much better."

Around at this time, Kaden heard slow steps from yet another room next to them. Soon after a mummified woman walked out holding a tea tray. The desicated corpse had no eyes and its face was so dried that it had permanent gurn. On the contrast of the condition of her body, she was wearing clean and relatively expensive looking clothing.

The mummified woman served both of them tea.

"Do you like tea?" Nosran asked Kaden ignoring the mummified woman. "I have to make trip to the coastal towns periodically for it, though."

"I can drink, but not fan of it", Kaden replied and wondered what kind of lunatic he was working with again. Was this Nosran like the boar, Ciner, was when Kaden met it with the corpse of its so called 'husband'. He didn't have to wonder it too long.

"This is my dear wife", Nosran said casually and nodded towards the mummified woman. "She liked to cavort with another man. It didn't end well for her nor for the man. Still, she was my wife and I never put an end to our marriage. Yet she needs some punishment for the things she did so I have her serve me. Look, I even made some special commands when I reanimated her. Dear, would you dance!"

The mummified woman started dancing.

"I had to work quite a bit to make her able to do that", Nosran continued with a smile. "All the work paid for itself at the end. As for the man. The zombie I made out of him rotted away quite a while ago already. He was in such a bad shape after I made my other zombies eat the thing between his legs. He struggled too much and my zombies are rather strong."

"Well, I won't question your problems with your wife", Kaden said with a chuckle and then decided to steer away the discussion from the uncomfortable matters. "You seem to have been here for quite a while. I assume you know the area and things that happen in it?"

"I do pay some attention, yes", Nosran replied and sipped some tea.

"Do you happen to know where the elves live?" Kaden decided to ask directly. "Or possibly what the Sacronan's church and soldiers are doing at the ruins."

"Elves and I have a deal. We don't disturb each other", Nosran told Kaden. "If you have business with them, I can arrange a message, though. As for what Sacronan is doing, I don't meddle with them either. I'm affiliated with neither Saint Empire nor Sacronan and I prefer to keep it that way."

Kaden thought about that for a while. Brit was one of the few human territories where you wouldn't neccessarily be on either side. It was fine. Nosran wouldn't tell about him to anyone. Except elves once contact to Emina was made ...

"The elves", Kaden started and ignored his tea. "I met with with a certain half elf a while ago. We intended to do some exploration, if we met here. Considering the Sacronan is digging at the area we were going to look at, I'm guessing they beat us to it. I'd still discuss the matter with her. I might need some help."

Nosran nodded. "I'm sure I can arrange a message, but I can't ensure a reply."

"That is fine", Kaden replied. "If she isn't there or isn't interested, its perfectly acceptable. There are just reasons why she is one of the few people I trust a bit more."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I see", Nosran said and then sipped some more tea. "I recall you saying you had some other matter to discuss with me too?"

"Thats right", Kaden said and stopped to think for a while. He didn't really want to say how he knew of the fragments or why he believed Nosran would have one. As usual, Kaden mixed in some truths and lies. "There are some... objects that have been found in hands of other necromancers. I have a reason to believe you have one of these objects. I have been asked by my employer, if you were willing to part with it."

With such words Kaden could say that he was asked by some other party to for the fragments. He wouldn't have to explain why or how he knew about them or really say anything other than that he wanted it. It didn't work perfectly, though.

"Not sure how much about that was true", Nosran said with sigh. "As I said, I know a lot about souls and when someone lies, it shows."

Kaden frowned. Then he twisted his face back to a smile. Nosran didn't know which part was true and what was not. Nor had he yet declined to deal with Kaden.

"Well, I have my reason for concealing things", Kaden said trying to make it seem his lies were, in fact, to be expected and one should not take offense at it. "The truth is that they have been found in some questionable places and that they seem to have some value too, even if I haven't been able to determine it entirely. If someone knew where I found these items, it could bring trouble to me. And you would be the second necromancer to have one of them. Please understand the need to conceal the matter."

Nosran nodded a few times.

"This item you speak of?" Nosran said after a while. It seemed he was thinking of continuing and took no offense at the lies.

Kaden decided to take the biggest risk he had taken so far with the fragments and showed one of them to Nosran.

"They appear to be a piece of some puzzle", Kaden said and showed one. He didn't say that he didn't know anymore of them because Nosran might notice that is a lie. "I'm very curious what happens, if all parts are gathered together. Perhaps it is a treasure map?"

Nosran looked at the fragment Kaden showed very carefully, trying to appraise it. Kaden was not worried. He had spent quite a bit of time trying to do the same himself, but had long since given up until he discovered more information. The inexplicable functions had already thrown Kaden far from what he could even begin to understand.

Nosran finally stopped and sat down. He took yet another sip of tea as he seemed to be thinking.

"Yes, I have things that are similar", he finally said. "Two of them."

Two? Kaden was somewhat shocked. Did Nosran know their value too? Did he search for them? Kaden quietly in his mind prepared a quick combat plan. He did not know how strong this Nosran was. Necromancer's strength was diffucult to measure since their personal strength wasn't all they had. If it came to a fight, Kaden might have to deal with swarm of undead minions. Escape was a better option. Kaden felt pretty sure he would be able to do that.

"Then again, I don't know what they are or what they do", Nosran continued. Whether or not he had sensed Kaden's agitation, he didn't say. "My own assumption is same as yours. Perhaps a map of some sort. Perhaps some old and powerful cultivator left behind a legacy for anyone capable of gathering all the parts."

Either Nosran was lying or he truly didn't know about the fragments power.

"I'm certain they have some value since I cannot even determine what they are made out of", Nosran continued. "In fact, I'm not sure where they even came from. Over time I seem to simply have acquired the two parts seemingly by chance. I believe some fellow had one in his pocket and took it before I reanimated him. Another was in a bag of another person I found dead in the forest. I believe some beast ate half of him. I hardly could even harvest intact body parts. What a shame. What was left suggested he had very good body build."

Nosran continued lamenting the loss of quality body parts for a while.

"Thats... interesting", Kaden told Nosran. He had not found them with the buzz or found other effects. He had just randomly found them. Two of them even. Kaden himself found one randomly which was acceptable coincindence. The second he found with the help of the first one.

Nosran had just randomly found two without any effort put to it. As if they had come to him so that he would find them. Could this be another function they had? Were they alive? They didn't appear to, but perhaps some function in them made them seek specific kind of people. Necromancers being one, but seemingly also cultist? Could some cultist have been a necromancer too?

"I can't tell for sure", Kaden thought. "I doesn't matter. I'll just pay more attention to them. If they do seek some specific kind of people, I do hope I'm not merely a transport for them. The ones Nosran describes seem to have died afterwards."

"I'm willing to part with them", Nosran told Kaden after letting him think for a while. "No matter what they are, I don't really care much for them. Be they map to a treasure or not, I have no time for such things. I might spend rest of my life trying to discover the truth while my true desires and purpose rot, Yet, they clearly have some value, even if its just the material. What would you trade me for them?"

"I would see them first", Kaden said. Unless the price was completely unacceptable, he would pay it. Even to such extent that Nosran might suspect he made a mistake. As long as he got them, it would be worth it.

"Dear! Would you fetch objects in the box number 348", Nosran said to the mummified woman that had been dancing all the time.

The mummy stopped what it was doing and quietly shuffled towards the entrance and likely the cellar where Nosran had originally come from.

"Hmmmm", Nosran hummed again and stared at Kaden intently while rubbing his chin a bit. "I still can't say what you were merged with. Could it be possibly several beasts? Such a chimeric production method would be wondrous! Usually one would have to graft body parts together, but you seem you just grew everything yourself. Truly marvelous! Controlled mana mutations? Such a wondrous thought. Maybe I could transform my zombies into more useful forms."

Kaden didn't answer despite that Nosran kept going on. In fact, while Kaden was rather wary of someone figuring out him being part phoenix, he was certain someone would at some point be able to do so. Time for it to be revealed wasn't optimal yet, but perhaps isolated person like Nosran would not be a problem. Besides, if Kaden kept evolving further and gained more phoenix like features, it would even become trivial for quite a few people to discover it. There was no way around it.

By then Nosran's mummified wife returned quietly with a small box and placed it on the table.

"Please check yourself", Nosran said and sipped tea.

Kaden opened the box and indeed, there were two black fragments that seemed to be of the same set as his own. He also noted he had not forgotten the existence at any point even if the buzzing stopped quite a while ago.

Looking at the shape and size, Kaden felt there had to be at least one or two more pieces to be collected until he had them all.

"Two fragments, possibly even one, was enough to protect me from gods influence", Kaden thought to himself. "With four pieces total... what will they do then?"

Kaden looked at Nosran.

"Your price?" Kaden said to Nosran directly while keeping his excitement in.