A gentle wind swept over the great plain dotted sparsely with small hills covered entirely by the ubiquitous tall grass between which small buds of early blooming flowers waited for their moment to unfurl and litter the monotonous green grassland with a colourful meadow stretching as far one could see and beyond.
"!" Iris opened her eyes as her body stood up with incredible speed. Her hand clawed at the air in front of her and dug into the soft black earth around her before she realised the duel had ended. She placed her hand on her chest but found no sign of her previous fight on her body. "Kia?"
Looking around, the risen diligently searched for her pale mistress eventually finding Kia sitting behind her. Her precious necromancer, who she had failed once more was curled up into a ball while loosely wearing her jacket. Hesitantly lifting her hand the elf gently stroked Kia's cheek, causing the girl to wince in pain.
"You can't wake up yet." A barely understandable sleepy slur reached Iris's ears before the girl reached toward her. Just as the soft and cold hand touched her head, the elf noticed Kia's arms looking strange but before she could take a closer look a wave of exhaustion hit her and her mind began to fight against unbeatable weight on her eyelids. "Sleep."
"Ugh." Iris woke up again with the feeling of having a battering ram continuously hammer her forehead.
She slowly opened her eyes anticipating the blinding rays of light to blind her but she was greeted with the dull sight of an over casted night sky with only a dozen stars managing to shine through the grey veil between her and the heavens.
Iris looked down at her body and noticed that both of her arms were wrapped tightly with blood-soaked bandages. Laying close to her right hand, she saw the familiar black bag with all of the strange medical instruments Kia owned. The elf shook her head, dismissing the petty thought to undo the bandages and see what had the girl done to her arms but as she adjusted her body and sat on the ground the loose bandages slipped from her forearms. Examining her skin in the darkness, Iris couldn't notice anything that would point to what had the girl done to her while she was helplessly asleep. She turned her head where Kia was last time and saw the girl sitting on the grass with her head resting between her knees.
Iris noticed a thin strip of bandage peeking from under her coat which the undead mage had thrown on herself as a form of a blanket. Slowly approaching the sleeping mage she stopped to see if she had not disturbed her mistresses's sleep that was the least she could do after almost killing them both.
Gently and methodically, the risen lifted the edge of her jacket slowly prying it away from Kia's iron grip. "!?" A half gasp escaped her mouth as the risen saw Kia's entire porcelain arm hidden behind a layer of bandages wholly permeated by black blood. The dried blood formed a thin glossy sheet of black glass with small cracks intersecting its otherwise smooth surface. After ensuring she will not make more noise, the frightened elf reached toward Kia in preparation to cast Negative Life.
"Don't do this," A cold and distant voice froze the elf as Kia slapped Iris's hand away after which the undead skirted backwards keeping the elf at a safe distance. "My body can't handle any additional mana now." The necromancer relaxed a little bit before explaining herself to the petrified elf with her voice changing to resemble a parent explaining something to their children as she crawled closer to Iris.
"What happen to your arm?" The tall risen asked with a hesitant voice, pointing behind the brown jacket where the girl had sneakily hidden her wounded arm.
"You shouldn't worry about it." Kia dodged the concerned elf's question giving her a forced smile. Somehow the less than twenty-year-old girl who seemed to never run out of energy to wonder and awe at the most benign things in this world appeared much older than the tall undead hoplite was accustomed to.
"I'm not a child, Kia. I'm worried about you."
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The undead mage grinned in genuine amusement for some reason before she presented her arms to the elf. Flakes of glossy shale started to fall onto the ground as Kia unfurled the bandage glued to her arm.
All along the mage's forearm six deep channels reaching the bone caused the elf to feel sick. The three evenly spaced cuts on Kia's upper arm were much narrower than the wide "V" shape trenches lines with a layer of the black liquid acting as Kia's blood.
"Awaa." The petite raven recoiled as the elf's finger touched her skin. "My mana links got overloaded yesterday and because of their failure, my body is unable to regulate, use or focus any amount of mana. I did reroute your mana to keep myself alive but since I have to leave enough for your body to function I have barely enough to exist. Try to avoid casting any spells until I can mend my body to one hundred per cent." Kia explained seeing the wide-open amethyst eyes staring at her with worry. "Your mana should oscillate at about fifty per cent so if you have to cast a spell then do it but you won't be able to regenerate it." The ancient undead used words the elf barely could repeat but her worried voice told her more than enough to listen to her warning.
Status
Iris
Race: Risen {Undead}
Age: 3 months
Title: [Anchor of Undeath]
Classes: [Risen Level 31 ] [ Hoplite Level 21]
Talents: [Masterful Translator] [Pure Mana Manipulation(awaken)]
HP 1602/1950
Strength 430
Constitution 426
Dexterity 436
Wisdom 428
Intelligence 428
Charisma 425
MP 1121/2250
...
MP 1122/2250
...
MP 1123/2250
...
MP 1121/2250
...
MP 1126/2250
...
Iris watched her mana 'oscillate' at about half of her total capacity just like the girl said. Thankfully her Hit Points slowly climbed upwards not much slower than she had seen before. After filling her immediate curiosity she noticed that her level hasn't increased.
"You didn't qualify." Kia responded cryptically to the elf's silent question causing her to want to know what happened after she had passed out but first the most important matter at hand.
"What do you need me to do?" The taller raven asked, eager to right her wrong.
"Annoying." The necromancer rolled her eyes at the elf's request.
"Kia," The elf angrily barked at the all too casual girl. "Can I try to fix your links? You can tell me everything step by step and-"
"I don't want you to meister on my mana links, you are too..."
"...Useless." Iris finished the necromancer's sentence for her knowing the girl stopped to find a nice and polite word to describe her history of failing her.
"... leaning toward your second class which is a good thing for someone with not too many levels to spare into dipping into different classes, especially without mastering your first two primary classes. I don't know why you are feeling sad now since you are primarily a physical archetype with your racial class providing some magical abilities and skills but not enough to have a certain... viewpoint necessary to comprehend what is needed of you. I would never order an eternal sentinel to cast magic or ask a lich to build a house... I could but that is not my point," Iris lowered her head in silence as Kia's gem-like eyes reflected her shameful tear-stained face back at her. "I need to find a spell caster, who can mend my mana links."
"Are you not expecting too much from the living?"
"Pwah! Any self-respecting caster has to be able to do that. How else can they heal the wear and tear on their mana links in a quick way?" The girl tilted her head to the side in puzzlement. Iris feared that the ancient was once again projecting her ridiculous standards onto the world. She never had heard or seen Alicia fixing her mana linkages when she served her but Alicia preferred being alone when working and often dumped her onto Brad or outside her room so she wasn't entirely sure that such a thing didn't exist in magics humans knew.
The necromancer's face twisted in discomfort as she rebandage her arm in a fresh and delicate-looking strip of fabric. The ugly wince never disappeared and the girl clearly tried to suppress the feeling of pain she was feeling. In a strange irony the ancient who lectured her about knowing your limits broke her own wisdom in such quick fashion.
"Before finding a spell caster, first we have to find a place to hide from the annoying wind." Iris stood up and looked closely at her surroundings finding nothing but an endless sea of grass. She looked up at the overcasted night sky and tried her best to determine where they where.
"Then we better start marching as quickly as possible." The elf said.
"T-true."
"Did something happen?" Iris turned back toward the sitting girl.
"N-no I'm f-fine but..."
"But?"
"I would have been able to walk b-but after resting I found that I was too hampered by my body t-to walk." The girl stuttered for some strange reason as she excused herself.
"So you are too weak to walk?"
"I'm not weak! If not for the system, I would have been fine." A small stone dropped from the risen weighted heart or whatever she had in her chest, knowing that the undead girl could still access all of her wide range of emotions and expressions which included the girl's pearly cheeks flushing red with embarrassment.
"How is the system linked with your inability to walk?" Iris asked. " Did you do something to anger it?"
"Ehh, I was meant to say I was debuffed by the stupid human who attacked you."
"Mmmm." Iris stroked her chin before she grabbed everything the girl owned laying around them two and presented the items to the mage who had kept the ability to store items in her inventory.
The girl loosely wearing the elf's jacket on her back groaned as the risen swept her from the ground and held her as lightly as she could.
"Tell me what happened after I went unconscious?" Iris asked the necromancer wanting to know what the girl did to save her from the Spiritwalker who outclassed her in everything but strength.