Chapter 15:
“Ladies, please calm down!” Oliver pleaded to the girls, their whaling was worrying Oliver. Who knows what creature would answer the girl's call. Still, they didn’t stop, tears of terror still ran down their faces. Oliver sighed, “What did I just get myself into?” he questioned himself.
“Master, are you alright,” A dark figure emerged from behind Aurelian. “Did you fulfill your revenge?” Asked Reinhard to Oliver. The dark priest, clad in dark armor, was dirty with blood and dirt. The scars and remnants of battle covered Reinhard's dark bones.
“Yes, I’m okay, and my revenge is complete… Thanks for asking.” Oliver said as he walked up to the decapitated McCarthy. “If only I could have seen the terror on his face in a better light.” He looked up to see the dark night sky, not many stars were out and even the moon now hid behind the clouds. Oliver peered back down to McCarthy’s corpse for a moment.
“Okay then, let's get out of here.” Oliver spoke, preparing his minions for departure. As Oliver was about to leave, he heard a sound erupting from him, deep inside his body. It was like a creature growling with anger. “Perhaps we can stay here till morning, and get something to eat.” He said.
“Very well,” Replied Reinhard, bowing his head to Oliver. “I’ll guard the perimeter, Aurelian, come with me.” Reinhard and Aurelian departed, but as they departed, the gnolls and kobald appeared, They carried with them the chest from the labyrinth. Inside were the gold bars and bags of valuables.
“Ah, my smaller minions, good job.” Oliver commended his less powerful undead. Oliver noticed there was no reaction from them. “Perhaps the amount of mana used to create a minion does more than influence power and strength?” He pondered aloud. Oliver looked back at the seven girls. “Let's go get something to eat.” He said.
When Oliver said “eat,” the girl's face instantly brightened. As if their tears of fear evaporated instantly. The girls cheered and began to run to the central building, fires still littered the area, but since the compound was mostly earth, Oliver could rest easy knowing that they wouldn’t burn in the middle of the night.
Inside the central building, Oliver, the girls, and the lesser minions searched for things to eat. What they found was lacking, but the food they did find was cooked chicken and apples. They quickly set a table and prepared to eat. Oliver looked down at the food in front of him and thought only one thing. “I could use a drink. I am so parched.” It had been a while since Oliver ate or drank anything.
The girls began to feast, they ate like they had been starving for years. The chicken didn’t last long, but before Oliver was left without food, he had to eat a giant chicken leg. He assumed this chicken came from a giant chicken monster, just like the one he encountered a few days ago. Oliver was no longer hungry, but now he was more thirsty than before. The girls were still eating their dinner, and didn’t seem to be thirsty at all.
“Why aren’t you girls thirsty,” Oliver asked while getting up from the table. He was going to look for some water.
The girls stopped eating, and stared at Oliver with a face that radiated one word, “Seriously.” Oliver realized why they weren’t thirsty and he began to get nauseous from the mental picture that had formed in his mind. The girls went back to eating and Oliver proceeded to find something to drink.
All around the room laid cups that looked to be made out of compacted dirt, or clay. Inside of these cups was that red liquid. He smelled a strong salty smell coming from it, what could this possibly be, he questioned as he was about to take a sip from one of the cups. Right before he was about to taste the liquid, one of the girls glanced over to him and screamed, “STOP!!”
Oliver froze, he looked over to the girl standing up and rushed to him, “Don’t drink that, it's blood.”
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“Oh, why are they drinking blood?” Oliver questioned the girl, setting the cup on the floor. “Disgusting!” Oliver grimace.
The girl was now next to Oliver, “It was McCarhty’s idea. But don’t worry, it’s not human, it came from the monsters. Most likely from the chickens.”
“How barbaric.” Oliver said, disgusted. Oliver thanked the girl and sat back down, his thirst now gone and replaced by the nasty image of drinking blood. Now, with nothing to do, Oliver decided to… play with his magic. He left the dining room and proceeded upstairs.
“Why did I even leave this building? I should have more faith in my minions' destructive power.” Oliver entered McCarthy’s office and closed the door behind him, leaving the kobold outside to keep watch, the gnolls would stay with the girls to keep them safe from any survivors.
Inside the room, Oliver sat in McCarthy's chair, it was very uncomfortable and was definitely not a permanent feature to this room of dirt furniture. But the room was by no means dirty, the compacted dirt was basically a lesser grade concrete, but the room was dark. So he lit a fire ball
and sent it to the ceiling of the room, and it provided a great deal of light for Oliver. The office was decently large, about the size of a small bedroom, three meters wide, 6 meters across, it stood a bit smaller than the room Oliver had found the girls tied up in.
Oliver focused his mana into his hands and created a stone goblet, a much nicer goblet than the bare cups the previous residents of this compound used. Oliver then had a realization, an epiphany. He then created three small ice cubes with his ice magic, and put them into the goblet. The ice was followed by a stream of fresh water, and the goblet was now filled with icy cold water. Oliver drank the water, it was delicious, he drank it all very quickly. And continued to fill the goblet up and drank the water.
“Sadly, this water doesn’t have any minerals and is just like distilled water.” He said.
(A/N: Yes, if you didn’t know, the minerals found in drinking water can be just as necessary for life as the water itself. Another fun fact is that water doesn’t conduct electricity, it’s the minerals like Mg, Fe, or Ca. All are conductive metals.)
Oliver, now no longer riddled with thirst, began to practice his magic a little more. He made more earth cups, created water streams that filled the room with reflective light, and Oliver even built a replica of the Eiffel tower out of ice. It was quite the spectacle, Oliver's magic abilities were quite impressive. But if he was this powerful now, imagine how much more powerful he could get in the future.
Oliver was excited for the future, you could see it on his face very clearly. “But power isn’t the only thing I desire in this new world. I also want wealth, and a great deal of it.” Oliver started to imagine the production capabilities of his unique bone affinity, he could make workers who never tire, never hunger, and never want a paycheck. “Good.” He said as he drifted to sleep in the most uncomfortable chair in the world.
***
Knock, knock. Oliver awoke to the sound of a light pounding on the door. He looked out the openings in the walls, it was still dark. “What is it?” Oliver asked the knocker.
“It’s me.” Replying to a feminine voice, she spoke differently from the other girls.
“What’s wrong?” Oliver asked, getting up from his chair, his armor felt a bit heavier after sleeping for a bit.
“I just wanted to say thank you, for your help, that is.” Said the voice from behind the door. Oliver approached the door, about to unlock it. But he stopped.
Outside the door, he couldn’t feel his minion’s presence. He paused all motion and went into deep thought. “Why can’t I feel the kobold? Did it go to sleep, no that's ridiculous, it's an undead. What happened to it?”
“Can you open the door now?” The voice said again. “It’s a little cold out here.”
Oliver got more and more suspicious. So he decided to test the girl outside the door. “Is that you Macey? Why are you here?”
“Oh yes, it is me, Macey. I was cold.” Replied the voice. Oliver approached the door, as he got closer, he could feel something from behind the door. It was powerful and dark. Oliver's demon sword started to vibrate, it flew up from Oliver's belt, and pointed its blade to the door. The sword continued to vibrate, as if it was scared.
Oliver began to worry more and more, the signs were obvious. What laid behind that door wasn’t one of the girls he had rescued.
“Won't you open the door?” Asked the voice.
“No, I don’t think I will.” Replied Oliver.
He held out his hand and imagined the floor outside of the door turning into quicksand.
“Ah, what is this!?” Screamed the voice from behind the door. “You bastard, why couldn’t you just die!” Yelled the feminine voice, now much more mysterious.
“Now, attack it!” Oliver yelled at the sword. And as he did. It stopped shaking, as if its confidence was restored by its master's orders. The sword launched into the dirt door and went right through.
“AWWW, YOU FUCKER!!” Screamed the voice. Oliver then heard the sound of the sword being thrown to the wall. Next, the door was pushed open, it fell to the floor and revealed the source of the voice.