Discussions began when a heavily armored man, probably a paladin of some kind, and a man that screamed ‚evil advisor‘ came into view, the paladin having stood in a line of empty armors, while the advisor came from the shadows like some form of ooze, both looking at us with scrutiny.
“You claim to have ties to the undead, which is concerning, but not something we need to discuss at this point and time. What you need to know is that your opponent is mostly invulnerable to any type of attack, excluding the statue standing in the titans very center and its rune, if you want to kill it, these are the two places you need to wound.”
The knight in shining armor explained, his stern but kind voice somehow grating on my nerves.
Following this, the other man came forth, his black robe and pale skin basically screaming a warning to everyone around him.
“On the magical side, I have noticed an incredible resistance to any geo type effect, with its attacks sometimes influencing the stone beneath it. Many of our men have died to gain these informations, and we still don’t have the exact attack patterns, but you can generally expect a direct punch, which will freeze your movement as it prepares the next attack, and a moment of smashing the ground and creating a shock wave that travels for about ten meters before subsiding. We have witnessed an attack that raises spear like pillars in a circle around it, though we aren’t sure how it does this, as this was the attack that let it get away. We noticed a weird weakness to pyro or aqua spells, which both seem to bypass its overall resistances. Water will freeze when the shock wave happens, so you should be prepared for that.”
We nodded at that, the plan quite clear to us as we tried to think about these limitations to our own arsenal.
“I think we have the means to defeat him, if we manage to reach it in time. Do you have some way of transportation?” We ask, the lord stroking his beard in deep thought.
“We have a sister city in that direction, and a teleport crystal for emergencies. It will take a few months of travel from your journey, meaning you will only need to travel for another five weeks to get to the mountains it will most likely be heading for. If you send my regards, we can use this.”
Of course, we agreed to that, and thus he brought us to a heavily guarded room, in which a blue crystal of immense power vibrated, making us disappear the moment we touched it.
We expected another lords hall when we arrived, and were instead greeted by a room of corpses, five people that looked like some kind of noble lying before us, their hands stretched out to the crystal. Behind them, a city in ruins greeted us. Undead shambled through the street, and a visible miasma hung heavy over the area.
It felt disgusting to stand here, a black goo sticking to everything, with the entire city being without rocks. I still felt a few lingering souls, which meant our target had passed through during the same week.
We dashed to the stables in response, the worry and disgust we felt at the creatures deeds brewing deep within us as we finally found the place.
On our way, some of the undead tried to attack Ember or Nemo, though those were quickly disposed of. Only a few seemed intelligent enough to know that we were the stronger ones, and not the source of their hatred.
We stole a few horses, the legs of everyone but pale and Hannibal burning as we finally reached them.
I had ridden in some previous lives, and from his posture I would assume Ember had experience with the majestic beasts too. Only Pale seemed unaware of how to properly ride, and that was quickly fixed as she mimicked our postures.
We gently indicated for them to move, and then we dashed together towards the now visible mountain range. The ground beneath us was more and more disturbed by sudden holes the size of houses, the titans steps too big for us to lose as we forced the horses to give their best.
I assume their trust in us was founded because both them and us were undead, the flesh missing from their sides a definite indicator of their zombified nature.
A group of zombies followed us, some hungry for our life force, another few simply instinctively following the strongest source of necros around. With this group behind us, we rode for a day before setting up camp, our description of our target meaning we would catch up in a week or so.
The moment we set up our sleeping bags, a few of the zombies ran to attack us, their path quickly halted as I projected a large amount of necros onto them, overwhelming their hunger with my own, and gently halting their advance with the sheer knowledge that I could tear them limb from limb.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Following that, a different group ran into the woods with me, infecting more and more of the local population while I simply took two pigs with us, ready to feed the core group.
We were growing excited to see the journeys end in sight, and already discussing what we wanted to do after this.
“I plan on reaching for the academy, I heard that it is a great source for any type of information.” Ember said, with me agreeing completely.
“I want to go there two, stock up on things I forgot, and learn new things when possible.”
“I will probably join a clans training for a few years, so we should say goodbye before the fight commences, that way we got a proper goodbye if anything doesn’t work as it should.”
She said, probably the longest sentence Pale had uttered since I met her, at least when it came to things outside of combat.
“Sounds that way. Should we make the temple of Ragnar an actual thing, or will it remain as a way to fool villagers? Because we could really use someone to take care of people like us.”
She asked, and I smiled as I considered the option.
“Maybe once we have grown old and start lacking purpose, that would probably be a great source of entertainment, and definitively I path I would choose once I finally achieve Immortality.”
I said, disclosing my plans to everyone openly.
“With my undying mutation and the resilient trait at level six, I probably have a lifespan of about two hundred and fifty years, if what I read about them is right.”
Mutation
Description
Unbound 3
You are easier to affect with space magic, exposure to dimensional effects will unlock further effects.
Undying 6
Your physical growth and decay will happen at a slower rate, exposure to Necros will upgrade this effect.
Anima chimera 4
Your soul is used to absorbing others, when you kill something, a part of it will be naturally drawn to you.
Trait:
Description
Persistent 6
Your body can last longer without sleeping, eating and breathing, also slows down the aging process.
Early puberty (temporary)
Enhances personal growth massively.
Elemental 3
You can manipulate arcane energies that linger in the world.
Arcane gaze 1
You can see the arcane in the world around you.
Arcane talent 2
Your body has an easier time channeling the arcane.
Devourer 2
When you suck someones brain, blood and soul, you gain a part of their essence.
Pale looked at me while gnawing on her lips.
“I got eighty years to live, then.” She muttered, smiling at me with that grim look of someone who knew it would be hard to expand this without slaughtering innocents.
“Then I have a proposition. Whoever lives the longest, will be in charge of the temple of ragnar project. What about you Ember, any task you want to give us in case you pass away?” I asked, and a grim smile spread across his face.
“Make sure my home is safe once I am gone. I’ll probably die around a hundred, like every other normal guy, but my village should survive my lifetime, and maybe you can support my sister and the family she might one day start.”
He asked, and each of us nodded.
We had done almost everything that was necessary for a battle of this size. We had goals that would hold our fate together, retying the knots our future would have followed before we drifted to sleep.
An army of the dead shambled around us.
It was the first night in an eternity that I spend actually sleeping, delving into my dreams and wrestling the doubts within me until they were nothing but fleeting Ideas.
This menacing rock would die, and nothing could stop us from trying.