I rose to the top of the tower to watch the carriage depart the way it had come. Julia really left, abandoning the other two humans– well, corpses now, in the tower. I stand there atop the stone and survey the horizon. Lights from distants cities to my right, and an endless vast expanse to my left. I start to wonder how many centuries I’ve been dead before Mistress brought me back to tend to her. I remember very little from my living days, but I’m sure the world has changed. And now I’ve changed too. It’s like I can think a bit clearer about things now.

I focus on the box floating around the edges of my vision and it responds, circling to the front, and I give it another go.

[Arcane Core (Severely Damaged)] Specialisation: Wizard (Necromancer) Mana Levels: 313/500 Minions maintained: 1

Warning! The core's outer shell has been shattered. Until it is repaired, mana regeneration is impossible and mana will leak out at a steady pace.

Time until core becomes mundane: 124:43:15

Properties:

Biomass Transmutation.

Create Undead.

Command Undead.

Death Divination.

[ Inscribed Spells: Unavailable while Core is severely damaged.]

I feel like I understand these a little better now, as well as how vital they– Wait… It can’t be… Command Undead? I clench my fists and jaw. Lucy was right. Mistress used magic on us! I mean, obviously to bring us back, but also to control us. Which I guess was also evident seeing how we couldn’t really disobey her… Huh. I feel like getting smarter isn’t always good. But hey, even if Mistress used us a little, I’m not gonna let it get to me. I’m a skeleton with backbone, and I like to view the core half full.

There is a loud creaking sound as one of the larger stones breaks loose. I watch as it falls right onto Mistress resting in the garden with a thud. For some reason, I don’t care as much as I thought I would. If this tells me anything, it’s that I should get ready to leave the tower for good. As I descend to the lower floors again, I recap the plan in my head. First, I need to find an object with the same mist as my core inside it. Then, I have to find a person who can work with glass.

I turn to the library with a groan. I hate reading, but if there’s any information that can help me, it’s hidden somewhere between those pages… maybe. After the fight and Julia’s looting, there’s few actually useful items remaining. It’s either smut or topics way too advanced for me. Either way, I pull the satchel from the dead girl and shove three books in that specifically mention cores. The one I started the day before, as well as ‘Inscribing new Spells to a core’ and ‘Mending Arcane Cores.’ That last one will be particularly useful for my problem, I feel.

That’s all I can do about the essence. Now, I’ll need some gold coins to pay the glass man, so I move towards the basement, where Mistress keeps her secret stash. Humans love the damn things. They use them to eat and sleep in places and do all of the things living people need to do and the undead have no need for. I pull the lever, which in turn makes a section of the wall retreat inward revealing a passage. “I guess some clothes would be nice though,” I muttered to myself, then paused. “That’s odd. The more I am on my own, the more I start to feel. Pretty sure that was jealousy just now. I don’t know if I like it. In the past, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any clothes.”

I set the thoughts aside for now as I stand before my next hurdle. The six spherical stones built into the wall, each carved with letters. “Mistress’s password.” I place a hand under my jaw and ponder. “She always had a soft spot for the macabre… I guess it goes with the vocation.”

I turn the stones with my bony fingers, spelling out Spirit. There is no movement. I try Shadow, Crypts, Cursed, Wraith… Nothing seems to work. Then I get a horrendous, treacherous thought. Mistress lied about controlling us… Could she also have lied about…

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

‘Marcus’?

The moment my finger leaves the last stone the mechanism starts to move.

[Intelligence has increased by 1]

I step inside forcefully, bones clanking against the stone in anger. So many years of servitude and following her every whim, and I wasn’t even given a chance! We looked the same for devil’s sake! Is my character that bad?

I push the thoughts aside and focus on the open chest in front of me. Over the years, Mistress has collected quite the sum. Some from extorting the villagers, and some from curing them from diseases she secretly inflicted on them while extorting them. There were 4 sacks here, each with about a hundred coins. I don’t know if it is a lot today, but just the weight from picking up the first one made it feel like a lot.

“I hope that’s enough to pay the glass man.” The first step with the sack causes me to lose balance and almost flop to the side. Looking down, at myself, I immediately figure out the perfect solution. I take the rope from another sack and secure the gold by tying it around my pelvic bone. Straight down the middle of my body, so no issue with balance! It’s a bit harder to walk, sure, but it’s effective. “Damn, gaining intelligence really has its upsides, doesn’t it?”

I waddle outside triumphant and make my way back up, sack of gold jingling in victory as it smacks against the stair steps. Now in the tower’s ground floor, I make a quick check of my belongings and the trip’s necessities. I got my books, coin, and the cute shoes I pilfered from that dead girl. Without flesh around my feet, they seem to fit me just fine.

“I’ll be back!” I yell to no one in particular. So many years with hundreds of brothers and sisters, and I only get the intellect to converse after they’re gone. It stings a little. Am I… getting lonely?

That’s when I hear noises coming from outside. I cross the ruined door and look towards the village. It’s the brink of dusk, and a large crowd seems to have gathered on the bottom of the hill! Hmm… They also seem to be carrying lit torches and all their pitch forks. Something tells me I should get out of here. I start waddling away as fast as I can before they’re close enough to see me, just to trip on an exposed gnarly root. I tumble, rolling on down the opposite side of the hill, before landing square inside a mud pool. That would have definitely hurt if I was still alive. Now, I feel only the cool touch of the dirt sticking to my bones as I stand. The villagers seem to be assaulting the tower, burning, pillaging, and defecating on whatever they can find, as the alive do. I shake my head and turn around, heading to the opposite direction. Not much I can do about the tower now, unless I want to end up as bone meal for the corn.

I leave centuries of unlife behind me without much thought. So much has happened in these last few days that these centuries feel empty. Perhaps it’s because I can think about it all now, to see part of the larger picture. The only thing that once gave me warmth is now nestled in my chest. And that’s all I need.

I move through the forest without tiring, circling the village a safe distance away. The only thing I have to go by are the city lights I remember seeing from the top of the tower. So I trek through the land, heading for their general direction. I walk without tiring, without need of water or rest, without minding the wild animals that draw close to observe. They quickly realise I have no flesh for them to consume. In this place full of life and away from all the magic that brought me back, I feel unnatural. Like I don’t belong. My hollow eyes simply focus on the timer ticking down, second by second. It takes a good twelve hours before I feel smooth stone under me. I look both ways, but there’s no sign of any city, so I just keep heading away from the village. After about two more hours of walking, I spot something down by the side of the road. A carriage, like the one the enemies rode in, though this one seems to be missing a wheel entirely.

I circle around, only to find a human stuck underneath, their lower half squeezed under the wooden frame. He seems pale, and I can see the bones peeking from under his skin. Kinda sexy. His eyes seem glazed over even as I stand above him as menacingly as I can, so I poke him with my shoe.

“Death?” He asks with a hoarse voice. “Are you death?”

“I’m Alph.” I extend a hand as the living often do.

“Ah…” He grimaces, raising one of his hands up vertically. “Trath.”

I shake his hand, and it flops to the ground when I let go. “You are stuck.”

“Yes,” Trath mutters with the liveliness of a dissected frog.

I ponder for a moment. “If I get you out, do you promise to take me to the nearest city?”

“Yeah,” Trath responds, some light returning to his eyes. “Yeah, I promise.”

“Very well.” I grab him with both hands, my boney fingers gripping as hard as they can. I pull, but he barely budges.

“Nnfggh,” he moans. Vocabulary seems to have really changed since I was alive. Very guttural. “There is rope up top… The horse can’t pull the carriage like this, but it could pull me if you tie me to it.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a go.” I climb up top and find crates full of metal ingots, ores and tools made of metal. No wonder one side of the carriage gave out. I quickly spot the rope and grab it, moving to the front, on the coachman’s seat. The beast strapped to the carriage is massive, even a bit malnourished as it seems. It grunts when it spots me, but there’s not much wiggle room for it to move. I look down at the rope, then the intricate mechanism holding the horse attached. My eyes follow the length of it… Twisting and turning.

“Well, might as well get started.” The moment I touch the back of the horse, the creature neighs and stomps against the ground, sending me stumbling back. Behind me, I hear a loud grunt. It’s not long before the carriage flips to the side under the horse’s wild trashing, finally putting a stop to it. I peek out and see Trath with his face planted on the ground, grunting and groaning, one leg bent horribly out of shape to the point even I could tell it was broken. But most importantly, he was carriageless.

I think I just made my first friend.