"Mmm, Annino, do you think this creature will be suitable for battle?" asked the uncertain Vallynor, looking around.
Annino looked at her owner and then at the strange creature, whose limbs twisted in all directions. Beside them, Glazik looked on with disgust at the tentacle-like appendages. The creature was huge and thick, with bones jutting out of its body like spikes. It resembled a hedgehog, with a claw at the end of its appendage.
Nine more of these hideous creatures writhed beside it. Vallynor wondered what he wanted to do with them. Setting ethics aside, they could be useful in battles, even better than those huge hands that catch enemies. But knowing the purpose for which this person started creating this creature gave him goosebumps.
Vallynor decided to leave the hentai tentacles for later and do something more useful now. He added spike-like bones and increased the size of the creation. Then he duplicated it.
Unexpectedly, a book emerged from the creation, and on its opened white pages was written:
"Young necromancer, you have begun to learn the ways of necromancy and have created an unusual creature with your own hands, which has attracted attention. For this, you receive a 1% discount on all purchases."
After that, the book quickly closed and disappeared.
"Wait, what purchases? Whom did I attract? And what is this 1% discount? Cheap. Ten would have been normal or at least five," Vallynor muttered, cursing the book. "What purchases, who is watching me, and what discount?" he added, but the book did not answer.
Perhaps the purchases were some hint of opening a store if he did something. Someone was watching him, perhaps not just one creature but several. And what should he do? How to go to the bathroom? Although he had not gone to the bathroom since he entered this world, like all the transported heroes in books. And what brought him here? The tentacles he created? The opening from which the spike came out was not just a hole but a mouth that could fully swallow a spike and bite the victim by name with teeth taken from the killed fish on its legs. Strange creatures, or is it because he is handsome, and the one watching is a girl?
But the discount irritated him the most. It would have been better if he had not been told about it.
Dismissing all this nonsense, Vallynor canceled the spell, and all his hands and tentacles disappeared. It was time to move on.
***
"My lord, this man will soon reach the Royal Forest. Are there any instructions?" asked the young lion, sitting on a huge six-legged reptile and turning his head to the old monk, dressed in ancient clothes, who was waiting for his next instructions.
"Let him be. We still have to walk for almost a month to reach the forest. This will be a chance to observe him and his power..." - the monk paused for a moment and continued, "And how is the Queen of Nightmares doing?"
"She will reach the forest in twenty days. This girl destroys all my birds, so I can't keep an eye on her," the monk replied.
"And what about father?" asked the young lion.
"Your father spent a day in the sand. Perhaps he was sent to a nightmare, but after a day he got up and continued on foot to the forest. According to my calculations, he will reach the forest in about 50-60 days if everything continues in the same way. If so, by the time the boy arrives, his father will no longer be there," the monk explained.
The young lion pondered what he had heard and muttered to himself, "It's not like him to be late. Has something happened that he shouldn't hurry for?"
Raising his head, he looked at his huge army waiting for his orders, and then at the monk. After a few seconds of reflection, he said, "No one needs to hurry. Let everyone rest today. And you, monk, stop watching the Queen of Nightmares and focus entirely on observing the boy."
***
Vallynor climbed up a tree and looked in the same direction as Glazik. He sat and watched for a few minutes, but couldn't find anything. With some skepticism, he asked, "Are you sure you see something? Because I don't see anything myself. Maybe you just imagined it?"
Glazik was outraged and didn't know what to say for a few seconds. She remembered that Vallynor was her master and calmed down to explain to him, "There is a magical wall or dome nearby that hides the place where the Forest Queen is sitting. You can't see her because there's an invisibility spell on it... I warned you not to climb up because you wouldn't see anything anyway. But if you want to try, go ahead. Did you see anything?"
"No," he answered, embarrassed, and climbed down from the tree. Anino was sitting next to him, sticking out her tongue and wagging her tail happily. "You're a good boy," Vallynor said and started petting her.
After five minutes, Vallynor stopped and began to walk away, saying, "Let's say Glazik is right, there might be an old woman there, or as Glazik calls her, the Forest Queen."
If Glazik could, she would have looked askance. But she didn't say anything, just flew off in the direction separating her from Vallynor, looking displeased.
After several hours of walking and fighting different enemies, Vallynor slowly moved forward, looking around. "Where is the barrier Glazik was talking about?" he suddenly asked and immediately ran into something and fell.
"Right in front of you," Glazik answered with glee.
Vallynor looked at the spot where he had hit and, ignoring Glazik, stood up to touch the invisible wall. After a while, the wall began to knock, beat and throw various spells at him, but nothing happened. There wasn't even a sound.
"Touch the barrier with both hands, Vallynor," unexpectedly came the voice of the Old Woman.
"What will happen?" Vallynor asked suspiciously.
"You'll be able to pass through the barrier and enter my house," the Old Woman replied.
"What about Anino and Glazik?" Vallynor asked, looking at them.
Aninno and Glazik watched Vallynor, but did not understand whom he was talking to. However, they quickly realized that he was communicating with the Queen of the Forest.
"This barrier does not belong to me, and I cannot control it. But I can help someone pass through it," explained the old woman.
"So, do I need to pass through the barrier myself?" unexpectedly thought Vallynor. "This is like battling a boss. I don't want to do this..." But suddenly a new wave of pain engulfed his soul, reminding him why he set out on this path to the old woman.
The undead entity touched the barrier, and a few seconds later, what was invisible before it began to see as something caught his hands and pulled him into the barrier.
Frightened, he tried to move away. But what was pulling him was too strong, and he couldn't do anything.
Aninno and Glazik watched as the owner's hands disappeared. Aninno quickly wanted to help pull the owner out, but it wasn't even three seconds before the owner completely disappeared, leaving them alone.
***
Aninno and Glazik watched Vallynor, but did not understand whom he was talking to. However, they quickly realized that he was communicating with the Queen of the Forest.
"This barrier does not belong to me, and I cannot control it. But I can help someone pass through it," explained the old woman.
"So, do I need to pass through the barrier myself?" unexpectedly thought Vallynor. "This is like battling a boss. I don't want to do this..." But suddenly a new wave of pain engulfed his soul, reminding him why he set out on this path to the old woman.
The undead entity touched the barrier, and a few seconds later, what was invisible before it began to see as something caught his hands and pulled him into the barrier.
Frightened, he tried to move away. But what was pulling him was too strong, and he couldn't do anything.
Aninno and Glazik watched as the owner's hands disappeared. Aninno quickly wanted to help pull the owner out, but it wasn't even three seconds before the owner completely disappeared, leaving them alone.
***
The monk opened his eyes and looked at the young Lion, who held a cup of hot coffee in his hand, which had become a rare drink in this world after all the vegetation began to die.
"He passed through the dome that keeps everyone out of the Royal Forest."
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"Keep watching," the monk replied.
***
Standing up, Vallynor quickly looked around, expecting a possible attack, even from the old woman. He had known the old woman only by her voice and had never seen her before. Today, however, he saw her for the first time in so many years.
"Hmm?" he said thoughtfully, looking around and seeing no one. Only a small mountain. In front of him was a rocky road that climbed the mountain like a staircase. It was already old and full of cracks, with even some pieces missing.
"And what is this?" he looked in shock at the obvious traces of a battle between giants, which were next to the stairs. The battle marks used different kinds of magic, and there were huge holes under the paw of a lizard. This only confirmed that the old woman was some kind of dragon. But I don't think that such a person as she would be a lizard.
The rest of his sense of self-preservation screamed about danger, or maybe it was just his imagination. And there is no instinct. After all, I am not really alive, but that's not the point. The point is that as he climbed the steps, he realized that they were completely covered in dust, a very thick layer of dust.
As he climbed the steps, Vallynor began to notice new traces of the battle that he could not see at the beginning. Who fought here? Why? This question remained unanswered.
When he reached the end, he could see a huge square, filled with former grandeur, which now remained only a small part, as if someone had cleaned up the remnants of the battle. Only small pieces remained.
All this decor style and the image of the things that remained could give the impression that the decor style was reminiscent of the Eastern, Chinese, or Japanese.
Walking through the destroyed square, shocked by the battle and time, he noticed a huge entrance to the mountain. On either side of the entrance were two statues. One of them was destroyed, but the statue fragments that should have been lying on the ground were missing.
The second statue was almost intact, with only a few scratches left from time. It depicted a mighty dragon-like man with huge wings on his back, as if this dragon-man was preparing to fly. His gaze was directed at the insignificance, and he exuded a threatening aura that frightened Vallynor. The man held a spear in his hand and demonstratively threatened Vallynor, as if ready to attack him at any moment. However, the dangerous aura that surrounded the statue disappeared.
"This statue was made in honor of my son... Isn't he beautiful?" The old woman spoke unexpectedly.
"Where is he now?" Vallynor asked.
Upon hearing the question, the old woman fell silent for several minutes, but then answered, "He's dead."
Vallynor felt a weight lifted from his shoulders, but he couldn't help but wonder how his son died. His statue alone could evoke such awe and admiration, he couldn't fathom what kind of being could make him lose consciousness.
"How did your son die?" Vallynor knew it was rude of him to ask, but he couldn't contain his curiosity. How could a powerful being be killed?
"During the last war, Plurimum Timere fought against the God of Power. This insignificant God deceived and killed my son. All that remains of him is this statue, as a memory and a talisman. Come to my house. Go straight to the enormous door, where I'll be waiting," said Timere.
"This is starting to sound like a boss fight. But let there be no fight. I don't want to be on the brink of life and death again. I've already died once. And secondly, I don't want to lose my soul either," Vallynor thought.
Slowly entering, Vallynor was able to see a huge corridor filled with scratches and holes left behind from the battle. "Are these the marks of the war that the old woman and Baba Yaga played?" he wondered.
"My feelings tell me that something is wrong here," he continued to ponder. "What kind of creature fought dragons in his house?" He felt that something unusual had happened here.
As he walked and pondered, the sound of chains made him stop. Looking around, he couldn't understand where the sound was coming from. When he heard the sound of chains again, he realized that the source was ahead, where the old woman should be.
A strange feeling of danger enveloped him. He prayed that no one would attack him and that there would be no boss fight. He reached the end of the corridor, where there was a huge massive door decorated with drawings of different dragons. But it was also full of scratches and... blood from the surviving drawings.
He was able to see in the center of the door a huge dragon that was spreading its huge wings. Another, slightly smaller dragon was sitting next to him. This dragon looked more feminine and was surrounded by trees, flowers, and so on - you could say she was surrounded by nature. There were dragons of various species and breeds of smaller sizes on the sides, who inclined towards these two dragons. But because of scratches and blood, Vallynor couldn't distinguish them too much.
There's a half-dragon, half-fish over there. And there's a bony dragon?... A undead dragon? And that's normal?
"Come in, my boy," said the old woman.
Vallynor looked at each visible dragon with curiosity and lost track of time. Because of this, the old woman, or rather, the Queen of the Forest, lost patience.
Looking around again with a fleeting glance, he began to search for a way to enter. The door was huge, but he was small, and these gates were almost 40-50 meters, if not more. He didn't have the strength or magic to open the door.
He searched for a possible lever, button, or something else, inspecting the door and its drawings. Well, he couldn't help but look at them. It was too mesmerizing for him, as if an expert had been inspecting a painting by Leonardo da Vinci for hours. So he couldn't just look past it.
"In the center of the door are Malenkov's paws, and on them is the Green Dragon. There's a handle there," thought Vallynor, hearing the voice of the old woman. Her sharp and rough words frightened him.
Looking where she indicated, he saw a small dark green dragon that looked poisonous, like the color of a swamp. This green dragon emitted a very strange aura, reminiscent of a poisonous snake. Several other dragons also didn't incline completely, as if they weren't sincere.
He pressed the handle and, pulling it towards him, nothing happened. But when he pushed it into the room, the previously invisible doors opened. It turned out that the door was huge, three meters high and one meter wide.
"Convenient," thought Vallynor, "Why open huge doors for small guests when you can make small doors for them?"
He entered the room and suddenly... no, he wasn't attacked. Torches flared up, blinding him for a few moments. Instinctively, he wanted to cover his eyes with his hand and make the sound "sssssss" like a vampire in the rays of the sun.
"I see you don't like the light of life. You are more and more inclined towards death. Let me guess, you wanted to make that annoying 'ssssss' sound again. Ha-ha, that's like you. Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon. You've lived for many years in the domain of Death, where there was not a drop of life," said the old woman.
Vallynor wanted to object, but the old woman interrupted him:
"The flowers of Baba Yaga don't count. They are artificially created. And you lived in the company of several living beings who have not yet lost their minds. And all other creatures do not count, they are fallen..."
While the old woman continued to speak, he did not listen to her, and his thoughts went somewhere far away. When he could finally return to reality, he saw a huge room filled with gold. It was not just large, but gigantic.
In the center of the room was a huge mountain of gold, colored stones, and other possibly magical things. A dragon sat on the mountain with familiar features. When he carefully examined the talkative old woman, he felt that he had seen her somewhere before, but could not understand where exactly.
After thinking for a moment, he quickly realized that her image was on the painting with many dragons. She was a female dragon surrounded by nature. Of course, there was a difference - her scale color was not as bright as in the painting, and she looked sickly and weaker than in the image. As if those fools who starved themselves to the bone and skin. He remembered how he wanted to take a pitchfork and burn those witches. Gross.
Looking at the dragon, who sat in a semicircle over a huge pile of treasures, one of his wings was half-open, as if hiding something. Perhaps it was more comfortable for him. Vallynor continued to examine him further to figure out why the dragon felt more comfortable.
"How am I supposed to know how a dragon is more comfortable sitting? And I don't want to ask," he thought, continuing to examine.
The dragon had a tired but smiling head, and his long neck was adorned with an iron chain that kept him close to the mountain of gold. Looking at the dragon's limbs, Vallynor noticed the chains and asked:
"So these are already your shackles? Where did you get them from?"
"Yes, these are my punishment for sins I don't want to talk about," the dragon replied, interrupting Vallynor's thoughts.
"What sin?" asked Vallynor.
"Let's not think about sad things. Tell me about your world. How do you see it? I want to know the opinion of a soul that does not belong to this world," the old woman said, changing the subject.
Pausing for a moment, Vallynor didn't know what to say. Stuttering, he began to talk about how dangerous this world is, filled with darkness and death, but also about how there is magic here, which was not in his previous world.
"You know, that cursed old woman told me how she sees you: a boy with a kind soul, who is drawn to darkness, to death itself. You are enchanted by death and the power of darkness, but you were not born to be a mage. And the strangest thing is that you somehow acquired the talent and passion for magic... Watching you, I ask myself what is the reason for your appearance. And I have a suspicion, which is only confirmed by your book," the old woman said.
"My book?" Vallynor asked in surprise.
"Yes, your grimoire. Tell me how you got this book, and this time, in more detail," the old woman asked.
Vallynor felt a strange feeling. The old woman was watching him more closely than he thought. But he couldn't think about it for long. He needed to talk about those days when he wanted to hide - how he found a hole at the base of a tree, how he met a cursed white rat, and how he started to create an angel when he fell on black sand to escape boredom. He mixed his hands up and down, and his feet left and right.
It was then that he met the book - a black book with a triangle whose angles were replaced by semicircles. Inside the triangle was a skull.
"There it is," the old woman said.
"What?" Vallynor asked in surprise.
"Summon your book," the old woman replied.
Vallynor reached out and summoned the book, then looked at it for a few seconds and handed it to the old woman. She took the book and said, "Look at the triangle. Do you see the skull there?"
Vallynor looked at the book again and uncertainly replied, "No."
"And I don't see what it means that the book has fully claimed you as its new owner. You know, dangerous and powerful books always choose their own owner. And if they find a potential candidate, there are two possibilities for them. The first is to become a full owner. And the second is to die or become food, like your book did. From your story, it seems that this book chose the second path."
"I was supposed to be food?" Vallynor asked in surprise, not addressing the old woman, but looking straight into the book's eyes. Sudden fear overcame him, but he quickly regained his composure.
"From your story, I can assume that the book sensed you and quickly found you. After observing you, it decided that you were not worthy of it. That's why it appeared and turned you into food. But what about this 'Handsome Man' you speak of? Could that be the God of Death?"
"The God of Death? Just asking the question raises another question - is there a God of Death? And what about Death itself? What is it?" Vallynor couldn't understand how one could speak of a God of Death when there was an embodiment of Death, like a skeleton in a black cloak with a scythe.
"Yes, they are both sentient beings. And the connection between them is very similar to that of a father and son."
"What? Father and son?"
"The God of Death gave up everything, made a deal, and wanted peace. But who will manage the realm of Death and all its affairs? So, he cut off a part of his essence and gave birth to Death itself, the one you know. Now he is responsible for everything related to death," the old woman continued, bringing her head closer with curious eyes.
"And the fact that you met the God of Death himself proves that you are unusual, just like the book itself. Because it was created by his own hands - the creator of your Necronomicon is the God of Death himself, the father and creator of the entity that everyone knows as Death."