Vlad appeared to apologize one more time, then vanished from our sight. Kel'Caldor was not lying when he said he took the vampire's library. Not only the books but the shelves and the structure of the room. All he left behind was the naked stone of the castle's room.
We descended down a different set of stairs on the far side from the catacombs and prison. The room at the end of the stairs housed a complex ritual circle. I studied it.
> You gained 1 point in Spellcaster (**) [ 598 / 607 ].
"Teleportation magic," he explained. "It is hard to reproduce since {Space Magic} is blocked from us mortals. But some Perks grant teleportation and an enchanter figured out how to reproduce the effects of Perks with enchantments."
"Was it me again?" I deadpanned.
"Don't be silly," he scoffed. "Yes, it was."
"Oh," Instead of pride, I felt sorry for my previous selves. I was but a pale shadow of their former glory.
The lich laughed. "Sorry, I lied. We don't know who created it but after the Proficiency System changed from one Ability every fifteen points to one every hundred, it became available for everyone. This teleportation enchantment only works for the undead. It will take us to the Necropolis."
We walked to the center of the circle and Kel'Caldor poured a massive amount of MP into the circle. It activated while I watched it with great interest but wasn't able to glean any insights from it. I felt disoriented for a moment, and then we were on a ledge inside a massive cave.
The roof was covered in bioluminescent lichen. Thirteen huge columns supported the stone above, leaving massive gaps between them. BUildings seemed to grow from the stone columns and some platforms and ramps connected them.
As we reached the edge of the ledge, I saw a necropolis taking the whole cave floor and climbing up the columns. The smell of carrion and embalming fluid was overwhelming and I was sure a normal mortal would be incapacitated just by breathing it. I heard voices and the chatter of people going on about their day.
"See that castle attached to the third column to the left. That's our new home. Your training starts tomorrow. I'll turn you into a splendid necromancer."
It wasn't a castle. It was a wizard's tower. But I wouldn't argue with the host. Kel'Caldor gave me four floors in his tower, out of fifty-something. He didn't allow me to leave the tower while I got settled. A few craftsmen came to help me with furniture, and I learned a few Earth spell
The lower floor was a living space with space to receive guests. Then my personal bedroom and wardrobe, the library on the third, and a laboratory on the fourth. Most of the books remained on the ring, however. I didn't have room for all of them. Five scriveners came to live in the library and copy the books to replace Vlad's collection.
Once the laboratory was all set up, I gained five acolytes, [Skeleton Mages] of the second rank, levels around the fifties, undead spellcasters who aspired to tread the path to lichdom. They accepted to work under me and help me learn {Necromancy} to gain favor points with Kel'Caldor. They didn't speak much but they watched me practice and often corrected some minor mistakes.
I never asked where the bodies I trained with came from. Nothing good would come from doing that.
I kept the laboratory clean and without any decorations. The stone walls were smooth and painted white, while the operating tables were polished steel. I had double the amount of enchanted lights than in the other rooms, and the reagent storage was all made of drawers instead of shelves. Somehow the clean atmosphere and ambiance made it easier for me to work here.
Thus started my (un)life in the wizard's tower.
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The ocean was more dangerous than Nenandil remembered. During the centuries following the cataclysmic aftermath of the battle between the goddesses, cross-continental navigation halted completely, and the usual attrition between sea monsters and navigators which kept the seafaring lanes relatively safe ended. It was costly in time, money, and lives to reestablish these lanes and scare the monsters that took them as their territory away. Even centuries after some brave explorers decided to brave the oceans again, it wasn't as safe as before.
She did her part, slaying several sea bests. Electric sharks, mutated dolphins, shoals of bloodsucking breams, and the mermen.
She didn't know when but some mermaids (exclusively female) either thought it would be funny or were forced to mate with water goblins (exclusively male). The resulting cross-breed was a species of fish-men (exclusively male) that were as hideous as they were horny. They were adapted to marine life like mermaids, even having a fishtail behind their butts, but four limbs ending in webbed paws. Large fins grew where ears should be and the skin was entirely covered in scales. They had large bulbous eyes and a wide mouth full of serrated teeth.
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The combination of fins, hands, legs, the fishtail, and the head-ear-fins made the mermen as mobile and agile in the water as they were hideous under the light. They also inherited the goblins' fertility and could breed true with any female of any species. Including some monsters and most fish.
Their population boomed and hundreds of millions of merman now lived in the seas. As she approached Auvanini, they became more and more numerous. Nenandil was tired of killing mermen.
They worshipped a pagan and probably made-up goddess. The effigy she saw was a human woman with pale skin and a large fishtail in place of her butt. The few times they shouted praises to their deity while rushing to die impaled on her ice spikes they called her the "Pale Priestess of the Void". Whatever that meant. She only hoped it wasn't yet another invader from out of this universe.
She emerged south of where she intended. Comparing what she saw with the map in her head, she could see that the political landscape changed. Kingdoms fell, kingdoms rose. But the quality of the settlements she flew over appeared to be shabbier than before.
Haru said once, the lack of cooperation and the desire to hoard power caused the world to stagnate. Complex technologies that required multigenerational knowledge-building were almost impossible for mortal species to develop in this world with Levels, magic, and the System.
She saw the mountains ahead, the branch of the ridge that separated Windemere from the southeastern valley. The Reservoir Dungeon City would be in sight at any time now…
But the mountains kept going around. Where the district of Saegalla should be, she found only mountains. Nenandil flew for days until she reached Lake Lonid and the city of Perenneth where Rosewise once fought a Demon Lord summoned by dark elves. Perenneth still existed but now the city was squeezed between the lake and mountain. The Eleon forest didn't exist anymore. Even the terrain in the plains had too many rocks. It was like someone went around placing large rocks everywhere. Or they'd fallen from somewhere.
Disguised as a human, she entered the city and asked the people. They thought Windemere was a legend. Despairing, she discarded her disguise right there and flew away.
The fairy looked up at the ring of rocks floating in the sky. Like the ones in Saturn, a sister planet to the Old Soul's homeworld. The world lost a moon and gained a ring. Scholars suggested the ring was the lost moon.
Without much choice, she decided to brave the mountains and fly inside to see if Windemere had just gained huge walls. She doubted it.
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It's been six months since I arrived at Kel'Caldor's wizard tower. I had finally passed his test as I raised five [Servitor Ghouls] from fresh corpses without missing a step. I bound them to my will and nodded to let the skeleton mages untie the corpses.
"Master," the first ghoul said as he stared at me.
"Good, he speaks," One of the acolytes commented.
"Arise and go stand over there with your back to the wall," I ordered the ghoul. Then I moved on to the next. As I undid the bindings, the newly-risen undead hissed and attacked me. I quickly drew a shortsword from my waist and cut its head off.
"One failure," Another said.
The other three ghouls rose successfully. I now had four servants for the living spaces. More importantly, this ritual pushed my [Spellcaster] Proficiency, still in the fast-growth band, beyond level six hundred. I also earned some Exp for raising the undead but it was coppers compared to the pile of gold coins I needed to level up.
It was a mixed blessing. I had no idea what my previous incarnation would pick, and I was afraid my choice would be permanent. It meant my future selves would be burdened with the consequences of what I picked here.
I dismissed the mages for the day and tasked the ghouls with keeping my living space clean. Then I withdrew to my bed because it was shopping time!
> > Select one (Ultimate) Ability. You can choose one at 600 points, and a second at 1,000.
I had no idea how someone could reach 1,000 points of Proficiency. Kel'Caldor was several thousand years old and wasn't there yet. I pulled the list of what I had unlocked up and pondered over my choices.
* Sage of Necromancy (U): Your necromantic spells are (P/5)% stronger, (P/20)% cheaper. You gain (P/75) Magic and Soul.
* Fusion Elementalist (U): You can combine two basic elements to create new and stronger variations. These are (P/4)% stronger. You gain (P/100) Willpower and Magic.
* Staff Focus (U): Store (P/100) Wizard circles in your staff. They activate (P/2)% faster, (P/5)% stronger and (P/10)% cheaper. While wielding a staff, you gain (P/50) Mind, Willpower, and Magic.
* Master Summoner (U): Summons are considered (P/20)% lower level for purposes of cost. They have Attribute values (P/20)% higher. You gain (P/100) Charisma and Magic.
* Physical Enhancement (U): You can imbue your body and mind with your magical power. You gain (P/80) to all Attributes.
* Path least Traveled (U): You can combine up to (P/150) Perks from other magical traditions into a spell you cast. You gain (P/60) Mind and Magic.
The blanket "All Attributes" bonus of {Physical Enhancement} sounded so enticing! It would be a plus-seven across the board, but I would sacrifice the synergy of a bigger bonus. {Sage of Necromancy} was out of the question, {Fusion Elementalist} looked powerful but bland, {Staff Focus} was a gimmick waiting to be disarmed, I had no idea why {Path Least Traveled} was there but I didn't have Perks from several magical traditions to use. Lowering the level of a summon by 30% and boosting their Physical Attributes by another 30% felt very enticing. I was sure summoning magic was hideously expensive even for a full-blown magician. And my former selves seemed to invest heavily on that, given the well-curated selection of summons that came with the Proficiency. And twelve Attribute points were not bad either.
Begging forgiveness from my incarnations past and future, I made the choice for ourselves.
* Master Summoner (U): Summons are considered (P/20)% lower level for purposes of cost. They have Attribute values (P/20)% higher. You gain (P/100) Charisma and Magic.
I checked the cost to summon a level 20 Ghost Warg, and it dropped from 15,600 MP to 7,644. Why did it almost halve? I had a hunch. Changing the monster level around, I learned the cost to summon was based on the square of the level. Double the level, quadruple the cost. And going up a rank had dire consequences as it increased the cost even further. The high-level summons should cost millions of MP.
I was satisfied I made the right choice.
Kel'Caldor came the next day to inspect the ghouls. He seemed satisfied. "Good. With that, your basic training is complete. You may have a day off to visit the necropolis below tomorrow."
I could barely contain my excitement.