Inspecting his Status screen, Samael could see the additional skill at the bottom, which apparently started at rank 1. His Necromancer class also showed he was at ‘Lvl 1’ now, reflecting his recent change. On top of gaining a new skill when he had levelled, Samael also seemed to have gotten an extra stat point, which was currently ‘Free’ and which he assumed he could use to raise any one of his stats. Considering there was no immediate need at the moment, Samael held off on allocating it until he could make a more informed decision about where best to put it.
What he was much more interested in at the moment however, was the fact that he had a spell! He could do magic! Or at least theoretically could. What he wanted to do now was try it out on something, though he was at a loss as to how. He needed a dead body after all, and finding one of those was bound to be rather problematic.
The skill did not specifically say that it had to be a human body however… just a body. That could include animals, such as rats and birds perhaps? There was bound to be a dead rat or pigeon somewhere in the city, if Samael looked hard enough.
Brimming with excitement, Samael got up from the bed and swept out of his room. After double checking with the barman as to how he could get back up to his room, just flashing his token to any of the staff was enough, Samael walked out of the tavern and looked around for inspiration on where to go.
To his left, a massive wall and imposing gate guarded one of the entrances to the city. Carts laden with wares entered the city, drawn by sad looking mules as they struggled to get their load through the muddy ground just inside the gate. Empty carts were leaving in turn, pulled by much happier looking beasts due to the lighter load.
There were a couple more taverns around him, along with some warehouse which the carts moved from and to. Looking down at his sandals, and only pair of clothes, he decided not to head over in that direction and instead turned back the way he had come from the river market. This time however he went down side streets instead of avoiding them, keeping an eye on the gutters for something he could use, as well as an eye out for any kind of trouble.
He had not searched long before he found his first dead thing; it was surprising how easy death could be found in an urban environment if you really looked for it. The body of a rat lay discarded amongst some detritus in a deserted side alley, away from any of the major streets of the city. It was missing a back leg, and some flesh in its side, probably from something chewing on it. Nevertheless Samael felt it was as good a target as any to try his first spell on.
Concentrating on the body, Samael used {Reanimate Dead} for the first time, eyes locked on the rat in front of him. At the activation of the skill, a strange circle of green light, filled with equally green runes started spiralling around him. His hands moved of their own accord and flowed in some strange manner, touching various runes in some strange dance. ‘This is fricking awesome!’ Samael thought to himself.
The process lasted roughly thirty seconds, of which Samael enjoyed the novelty of his hands having a mind of their own, as they continued in their rhythmic movements. He instinctually knew that he could break the spell before it was finished if needed, however the spell would fail and would have no effect on the target.
After the thirty seconds were up, Samael’s palms thrust forward towards the rat, and the green energy surrounding him flew into his hands, before firing off and hitting the rodent’s body.
You have reanimated [Basic Rat Lvl 1]
Samael did not need the message to know this however. As soon as the energy hit the rat’s body he could feel a connection to it with his mind. He could not feel anything from the rat itself, just the connection. After quickly checking to make sure no one had stumbled onto his light display, Samael crouched near the rat to observe it. It had not moved.
Using the connection, Samael sent a command through it, just a basic one ‘Stand up.’
The rat’s body began to move! It was not slow or lumbering like a zombie rat; instead it rolled over like it really meant it and quickly stood on its remaining legs. Samael flinched back at the rat’s speed, before chuckling. It stayed unnaturally still as Samael observed it again. ‘Walk Forwards’ he commanded.
The rat began hobbling forwards, having difficulty due to its missing limb and chewed out side. ‘Stop’ Samael commanded, causing the rat freeze mid-step. With a simple thought, Samael snapped the connection between them and the rat’s body dropped to the floor unmoving.
‘That was cool!’ Samael thought to himself happily, ignoring the message from the Construct informing him of the lost connection. ‘Slightly disturbing and morbid, but definitely cool.’
It seemed that his {Reanimate Dead} skill did not repair the body to perfect form, if it had damage then that damage remained with the animated body. In the rat’s case, this severely limited its movement due to the missing leg. What Samael wanted to try now was to find an animal with no wounds if possible, to further test what it could do.
*
A couple of hours later, Samael was leaning against a wall watching a rat unnaturally run back and forth in an alley. He had finally found a whole one which either died of disease or was poisoned. After testing multiple other candidates on the way, this one’s mobility and speed were astounding. With just a thought and prod over the connection between them, Samael was directing the rat to run over things, dodge to the side, scramble up and around some of the rubbish in the alley he was currently in.
He could get the rat to follow him at a certain range, patrol a set location, and even follow commands after a certain time limit had expired. If he could do all this with a tiny rat, then doing the same with a much larger body should hopefully be just as easy, and much more useful.
There was one potential problem he seemed to find, and that was a slight draining sensation that was passing through the connection. It was miniscule, but after several casts of {Reanimate Dead} and a fairly long time commanding rat corpses to do tricks, he had noticed some part of him felt ever so slightly tired.
It was difficult to discern, there was no meter or symbolic pool in his mind that he could use to easily measure what was happening, he just began to feel tired. Not physically or mentally tired, it was something else. He assumed what he was feeling was a type of mana drain from all the spell’s he was casting, it appeared that simply maintaining his connection to the corpses he animated took some mana as well.
Not having any kind of mana bar, or cost associated with his skills was unusual to Samael. It also made him a bit nervous about accidentally running out. Casting the spell seemed to drain his mana much faster than maintaining the connection. Wanting to test his mana, he cut the connection to the rat, causing it to flop to the ground mid run. He cast {Reanimate Dead}, then immediately cut the connection as soon as it formed.
Samael repeated this, again and again. He lost count over 100, though he thought he got to around 120 until his final spell failed before it could complete. Swaying slightly from where he stood Samael rubbed his face with his hands. He felt absolutely awful; it felt similar to running a marathon, or finishing a three hour exam, even though he was fine both physically and mentally.
Leaving the poor rat in peace, Samael made his way back to ‘The Battered Helm’ tavern. By the time he got there the sun was just about to set and groups of people in robes were wandering around setting fire to the torches in the streets, keeping the area well-lit for the night. It had taken Samael about 15 minutes to get back and the sense of tiredness he felt before was starting to recover. If he had to put a number to it, he felt about 10% of his mana had returned to him.
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The Tavern was much busier that when he left it, where before there had only been a few groups, now every table was taken and serving girls had to weave between patrons to deliver their frothy tankards. Walking up to the bar, Samael took out the small token with the circular hole and flashed it to the same barman from before.
The barman took it with a nod then waved it at one of the serving girls, pointing at Samael. The girl replied with a nod and a smile, putting her tray on the side and heading into the back.
“Can I also get a drink?” Samael asked, putting a copper on the counter, which was quickly swept up by the man behind it with another nod. Samael didn’t really want a drink; however he needed information and thought this the best way to get it.
“I’m pretty new in town.” Samael said, trying to strike up a conversation. “Any idea where a man might earn some coin?”
“You didn’t think of that before you came here? Pretty ballsy.” The barman replied, as he started pouring some frothy beer into a fresh tankard. Samael forced a chuckle before continuing.
“Yea, my previous plan fell through” he lied, hoping it sounded convincing. “Got any ideas?”
The barman looked at him for a moment. “Not much going on around here for your kind I’m afraid.”
“My kind?”
“Necromancer.” The barman explained, “Not many folks around here want dealings with that magic.”
“Ohh...” Samael mumbled. “It’s not against the law in this city is it?”
“Don’t think so, but you’d certainly cause a scene if you flashed it about. You can do whatever you like outside the city though, for all the guards care. Just as long as you don’t hurt nobody.” The barman explained, handing over the full tankard. ‘Damn, lucky no-one saw me!’ Samael thought. He was not that surprised there was some level of stigma against his class considering its closeness with death. ‘It does still suck’ he thought. ‘How am I going to get any money?’
The thought must have left a sad look on his face, as the barman pityingly gave him a last bit of advice. “You might be able to find work in the guild quarter, they often work outside the city and someone over there might be able to find something for you.”
‘It’s a start at least’ Samael supposed. Wanting to thank the man, he got out his pouch and slid another copper onto the counter. The barman just nodded with a smile and went to the next customer after pocketing the coin. A moment later the serving girl returned with a bowl of stew and some bread. She directed Samael to a free spot at a table to eat.
Finding himself rather tired, he quickly finished the surprisingly nice meal before heading up to his room. Ensuring the latch was shut, he lay down on the bed without taking his clothes off and immediately fell asleep.
*
When Samael awoke he felt pleasantly refreshed, a nice surprise as it was not uncommon for him to wake up feeling like garbage. His mana seemed to have fully regenerated during the night and the tired ache he was feeling yesterday had disappeared. Taking his sweet time, he stretched contently as he got out of bed. His plan for today: explore the guild quarter.
Turning back to his bed, he pulled out the money pouch and upended it onto the surface. The amount of metal that fell out had reduced quite a bit since he had first ‘acquired’ it. There were two silver coins and thirteen coppers left. Samael was a bit unsure on what the exchange rate between the silver coins and the copper coins were. For all he knew it might be two coppers to a silver, or a hundred.
Gathering the coins back up into the pouch, Samael looked fondly around his cosy room, then lifted the latch and walked out. The barman behind the counter was different than the one before, he accepted the room token all the same and Samael left with fond memories of the place, thinking he would return if the guild quarter did not work out... and he still had some money left.
Using his mental map of ‘Stradun’ that he had copied from the drawing in the tavern, Samael set off to find the guild quarter.
*
Arriving in front of a large imposing building an hour later, having got lost twice and asking for directions once, Samael stepped inside what he had found out to be Stradun’s main guildhall. Inside was a fairly grand staircase leading down to a large gathering area. Large hearths were built into the walls at the sides and Samael could easily picture the roaring fires they would normally contain in the evenings.
Similar to stepping into a hotel, one of the walls held a long counter, where a couple of bored looking clerks sat, with no one to attend to at the moment. A couple of groups dotted the hall but it was nowhere near busy. Walking up to the counter with a smile, Samael thought it best to just straight up say “I’m looking for work.”
The clerk he spoke to glanced at his colleague and shared a look with them. Without moving his head or blinking, he then slowly looked at Samael from head to toe as if measuring him.
“Excuse me?” The clerk said, his tone indicating he had heard Samael the first time, but couldn’t believe his ears.
“Err... I’m looking for work?” Samael repeated unsurely, expecting a different reaction from the man in front of him.
“I think you have the wrong establishment.” The clerk responded, giving no further response.
“I’m not sure what to say; don’t you hand out quests to people?” Samael continued with faint hope.
“To member’s yes.” The clerk responded, pointedly glancing at Samael’s stubble and unwashed hair. “Are you a member?”
“Err... No...”
“No.” The clerk repeated, as if that was the end of the conversation and Samael should just turn around and march out of the building right now.
“So how do I become a member?” Samael asked, ignoring the hint.
“You are invited.” Interrupted a voice from behind. Turning around, Samael saw a young man, kitted out in an impressive set of gleaming armour, with a deep red cloak trailing behind him. The man’s face was less impressive, its childlike features set in a sneering expression, as his head was tilted back to look down his nose at Samael.
“And to be invited...” the man continued, looking him over in a haughty manner “you need to have class.” A short giggle drew Samael’s eye over the man’s shoulder, where he could see an equally young woman in a resplendent gown. She was staring at Samael with a hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.
“Class... Yes I’ve got one of those.” Samael spoke in an even tone, not liking where this was going.
“Not your Construct class you halfwit!” The man sneered. “I’m talking about the ability to conduct yourself in society!”
“Right... I’m just looking for work here pal.”
“This is the royal guild house of Stradun. Not some flea bitten backwater that will employ any ruffian that tramps through its doors! Especially if their blessing reveals them to be depraved death worshipping wretches like yourself!”
‘Whoa, that escalated quickly.’ Came Samael’s surprised thought, as the man’s words rocked him backwards slightly. The man looked over his shoulder, as if trying to catch his companion’s reaction, smiling at the sight of the still giggling woman.
‘Ahh’ Samael realised, ‘the discrimination is real in this place. And he is trying to impress by being an asshole.’ A blunt rebuff to his query about work would not have been bad, but insulting him to try and score points with a woman. That rubbed him the wrong way. Samael used his ability to inspect the man, thinking turnabout was fair play and making sure to look him over in the same way the man did to him earlier.
Thomas Alswyth
Swordsman Lvl 7
Samael gave this ‘Thomas’ a smile that did not reach his eyes, before uttering in a tone with as much menace that he could muster.
“A man shouldn’t be so flippant when dealing with one who commands death, Thomas. He may find himself summarily dealt with.” ‘Christ that was cheesy!’ Samael cringed internally.
It had the effect of pissing Thomas off though. An angry scowl replaced the sneer on his face, as he dropped his pompous attitude and leaned forward.
“You are literally level 1.” The man said, disdainfully, “I do not know what you have been doing since your blessing ceremony, most likely hiding your perversion from the entire realm, but considering you cannot even deal with your own stench, I shall not worry.”
“Whatever.” Samael said, rolling his eyes at his failed attempt at intimidation. Knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere, he turned to leave the guildhall, but was blocked as the young fop in shiny armour stepped in front of him.
“I did not say you could leave.” The man said, holding a gauntleted hand out.
“You want me to stay?” Samael queried, raising an eyebrow and getting fed up with the encounter.
“Apologise.” The man demanded.
“What for? Samael asked incredulously.
“Not knowing your place in the world.” Came a reply with a sickening smile.
“... Get out of my way, now, or else.” Samael said, trying to keep his voice calm, even though he spoke through clenched teeth.
“Or else what? There is no need to pretend you can do anything.” The young fop said smugly. Too smugly for Samael.
“I can do this.” Samael said unthinkingly, before activating his {Reanimate Dead} skill, causing the glowing green circle and runes to appear. Thomas recoiled back in horror, letting out a shrill and pitiful scream, destined to ruin any chance with the woman behind him.
Samael experienced a brief moment of satisfaction before an incredibly powerful set of hands clamped onto his arms from behind, breaking the spell and dissipating the light. Looking over his shoulder, Samael saw his own reflection from a highly polished steel helmet less than a foot from his own face. The satisfaction suddenly didn’t seem worth it anymore.
“What’s going on here?” The armoured man demanded. “Nephew, what is the meaning of this disturbance!”
‘... Nephew?’ Samael tensed up, before using inspect on the armoured man behind him.
Henry Alswyth
Hero of the Wall
Swordsman Lvl 60
“Oh shit.”