I withdrew to my quarters in the palace and started to read Kel'Caldor's library. It quickly became obvious that the tomes and scrolls were copies. They still contained a wealth of information and references to Kel'Caldor's activities. Magical treatises, grimoires with necromantic spells, alchemical and enchantment guides. Everything was ridiculously complex and written in shorthand code. They were references written by the Lich for himself.
Very little regarding world history. Nothing about the Lich himself. I suspected, no, I was certain from how {Eldritch Presence} had no effect on him that he had {Pinnacle of Ego} and thus a perfect memory. He didn't need a tome with his life history or a journal. Those trivial tidbits of information were all in his head.
On the same line of thought, he didn't need to keep maps of his other safehouses. He knew where they were and anything written down was just a liability.
I traveled to Fulgen and Windemere's magical academy to purchase some history books and advanced tomes on the subjects (except necromancy). I needed more knowledge to even understand what I deciphered from the shorthand. I also bought as much paper as they would sell me. I left behind an order with Windmere's academy to supply twice as much paper I bought at three times the price and paid for it upfront.
It took me a whole year.
For one year I worked on decyphering Kel'Caldor's shorthand and mnemonic notes. As I unraveled the mysteries of the Lich's magic and knowledge, they became mine. I learned a great deal from his work.
> Mental Mastery [ 475 ]
>
> * Automatic meditation: You enter a meditative state whenever you are idle or unconscious.
> * Magic Circulation: Gain (Proficiency/15) base MP.
> * Spiritual Focus: Gain (Proficiency/15) base SP.
> * Sharpened Senses: All your senses reach further and give you more detail. The increase for both is (Proficiency/5)%.
>
> Spellcaster [ 551 ]
>
> Alchemist[ 312 ]
>
> * Batch Brewing: You can brew (Proficiency/10) identical doses at the same time without loss of quality.
> * Increased Quality: Your potions are (Proficiency/5)% stronger.
> * Condense Pill: You can turn any potion into a pill. Pills take twice as long to condense and are (Proficiency/5)% stronger than the potion.
>
> Enchanter[339]:
>
> * Resonance Control: Increase your personal resonance tolerance by (Proficiency/10)%
> * Inscribe Bone: You can enchant bone. Increase available points by (Rarity*Proficiency/10).
I was surprised at how my spellcasting proficiency went up by six points just by studying his grimoires. The other proficiencies all still had fast growth left and went up by leaps and bounds.
While studying and learning were all good, I still had no clue to the lich's whereabouts. Kel'Caldor was an urban legend. When I asked the mages in Fulgen and Windemere, I was met with either dismissal or laughter, if the spellcaster I talked to even knew about him. Marlowe only believed in me because it was me and he saw what kind of crazy shit I deal with.
I was about to give up searching for the lich. He didn't give me any trouble, didn't retaliate, and it's been a whole lot of years already. But there was one thing that didn't fit his profile. Would he let such a slight go unpunished? Would such an ancient creature just sweat it out and cut his losses?
No way in hell he would.
Which meant he was already acting. I stopped several times to ponder if I was being paranoid or not, but the truth was that he was. I just needed to find what he was doing and how.
Disguised as several creatures, I scoured the catacombs, I went around Cymeria and other places searching for hidden scrying spells or anything magical that was out of place. I found nothing. My enemy was as elusive as the Higgs boson.
If he wasn't scrying me, it meant he was already here. I felt my sanity slip like sand in an hourglass. I put myself to {Appraise} every which creature in Cymeria.
> Appraiser [210]
>
> * Appraise Magic: You can detect magical effects on your targets.
> * Evaluate Materials: You can get detailed information on crafting materials.
> * Estimate Threat: You can sense how dangerous a creature is, compared to you.
It was the third ability, unlocked after 200 points of proficiency that allowed me to find him.
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I was with my trusted advisors talking about the proposal of a band of Giants from the savage hills to join us when I sensed something I shouldn't. I tried to not give it off but I froze.
"All of you, leave us," I ordered everyone. "Autumn, you stay."
Winter tried to raise a question but Marlowe held her by the shoulder and led her out of the room. The elf Queen stayed on her seat, unfazed. Once everyone was out, I locked my gaze on her.
None of the Season Queens represented any danger to me. At all. When I focused on Autumn during our meeting, my heart skipped a beat out of sheer fright. The lich disguised as an elf didn't speak.
Without flinching or taking my gaze away from the perfect imitation, I spoke my mind. "I'll ask you only one thing. Where is my granddaughter, Kel'Caldor?"
Autumn smiled innocently. His acting skills were perfect. When she spoke, however, was with the lich's voice.
"Congratulations on earning the {Pinnacle of Ego}. Your mental defenses were superb during our first meeting, but you grew by leaps and bounds even though you only gained twenty levels."
I didn't reply. I just stared at him and considered my options.
"The elf whose body I'm inhabiting right now is fine. Once I cancel my possession, she'll behave as if she was waking up from a long sleep."
I didn't blink.
"If we fight here, we'll destroy this marvelous city you've built," he threatened with a smile.
"What do you want?"
"The wings you stole from me."
"They no longer exist."
"I can skin you," he said with the same tone she'd use to ask for a walk in the gardens.
"Try. Do you know who I am? What I am? And I'm not talking about the centaur I am this time."
"Yes, I know. Your mental defenses might be superb, but your minions are lacking. The golems gave me some trouble but..." He pointed at himself and grinned maniacally, "They're souls and I am the strongest necromancer in this world."
"You know this is a battle you cannot win, then."
"I find the challenge quite titillating. Won't I be able to trap your soul for all eternity after you die?"
"Maybe. Bundeus said something to that effect. Before I killed him. Three times."
"I expected you to be better at killing things, [Death Princess]."
"The gods are cheats."
The lich cackled with Autumn's voice. "Indeed they are."
I could finally pierce his magical masking and see his soul inside Autumn. He noticed and his smile vanished. "Now I can track you anywhere in this world."
"I just have to not be, then," he calmly answered. "Just like you can withdraw to that tree realm of yours, so can I into mine. Quite the work of art, I must say."
He flicked his hand and showed me a leaf, probably from the tree Briar was cultivating for me.
That's when I snapped. I dumped the 11 Attribute Points I'd gained killing cultists in Soul.
> Light Elemental (Searing Light, max range).
>
> Eldritch Presence
>
> Soul Shepherd
Even if he had 300 Magic, {Light Elemental} would reduce his Attributes by 15. He didn't. His score was around 150. That was enough to knock his Ego below 100 and let {Eldritch Presence} sap another 16 from all of his Attributes, as well as my granddaughte's meager physical ones. Under the searing glow of my {Light Elemental} form, my spiritual magic was twice as powerful. That included my {Soul Shepherd} Perk. Pouring all the Energy I could muster into it, I grabbed the lich's soul and ripped it off of Autumn's body.
It also ripped the elf's soul and killed Autumn but I gathered her soul and stored every item in the room, including her body. Kel'Caldor struggled to escape to his phylactery.
I could feel the tug from Kel'Caldor's phylactery, trying to retrieve his soul to put it in a skeletal body again. I pushed and tried to bleach the undead spirit faster than Mickey could spray thinner on the cartoon world with his brush.
The lich fought to break free. Flakes of darkness shed from him, slower than I wished. How did this fucker get this many Attribute Points at this level?
"Stop resisting or I'll erase your very being!" I threatened him as my head felt about to blow from exertion. "Then, I'll feed you to my [Wisp of Creation]. Speaking of which, Pandora!"
The wisp appeared as a glowing dot with a halo in front of me. Then I played my last card. "Stop resisting or I'll reincarnate you as a harpy chick. Pandora, you can start making the body." It was one of the lives where Bundeus' followers murdered me right after my birth.
Flesh and blood flowed from my body into the ground in front of me as it became a pulsating blob of tissue. The lich's soul stared at the body appearing in front of us with horror.
"Level zero. All your memories, all your knowledge accumulated in these thousands of years, gone. And don't you think you can escape me. The instant I feel you are about to slip my grasp, I'll activate {Self-Sacrifice} and finish this job, even if it costs my life."
He shifted his gaze from the harpy body forming on the ground to me.
"You cheated death, undead lich. I am eternal."
As a final blow, I dropped the painting on the ground between us. "Is this your family? Were you the King or one of these princes?"
His focus on the painting weakened his resolve. I walked sideways to one wall and then to the other, dragging him with me.
"My [Cartographer] proficiency already triangulated where your phylactery is. How long does it take for you to inhabit a new body? I know your wards, I studied your sanctum at these catacombs. I can slip past them with ease now."
He glared challenging my declaration. I pulled my world maps from memory and plotted the location. "An island to the west, in the middle of the ocean. A volcanic one."
The soul flinched. He had less than 54 Ego right now. While that was a commendable score, it was too low to resist me and lie. He knew I was right. My Energy was almost empty.
"Castle, redirect wellspring. Charge me." The MP regeneration of a nation flowed into me.
Kel'Caldor's strength faded along with his soul. The baby harpy body was finished. "Last chance before you become a baby bird girl, lich."
The sense of danger was also fading. I ate the most potent MP pill I brewed with my newest [Alchemist] knowledge. Then another, and another.
He finally succumbed, "I yield. Spare me."
"You murdered my granddaughter. Answer me, is there a deadman's switch in your sanctum next to your phylactery?"
"Yes, there is. I can tell you how to deactivate it."
I set the terms and offered him a ridiculously restrictive {Spirit Pact}. "Accept this or embrace oblivion."
He "signed" it.
I made my second Faustian bargain ever.