ONE LARGE OLD MANOR

I spent quite some time with Lek that the barren plains north of the city began to form spots of green, and the slight dimming of the sun told me the day had passed its peak. I floated above the city upon my sword, momentarily staring in awe at the rising sea.

I slid off my sword, grabbed hold of the wind around me with Petty Elemental Control, and steadied my descent to land just before the gaping hole leading into the manor within the city's center. There was much about the city I wanted to venture out and explore, but I only had a little time.

Whether now or years into the future, any poor soul who knew of this dead zone could stumble upon this area and see life. Surely, they would spread the word of this place, and now that I know that this place was part of the Fire Kingdom, they would be the first to stake claims.

My sword came down and slid itself into its sheath. I cast Fire, morphing it into a spinning cloak of fiery light and tendrils as I walked down the halls of this aged manor. I stumbled across enchanted armor and weapons around elongated tables at the end of the main hall. Scorched marks from my Lesser Sun the other day illuminated the destroyed walls to the left. I studied the long tables and figured they were in the process of being disassembled as I saw parts of them near the doorway to the right, along with brittle remains of skeletons.

The bordering halls, out the doors to the left and right of the main hall, led to corridors of rooms and a stairway up to the next level. I retreated to the hall with the gaping hole I entered from and learned this hall was a passageway connecting the main hall to the West Wing of the massive manor. Unfortunately, the collapsed ceiling had partially blocked it, but with some effort, I lifted the debris onto the second level of the hall and reformed the ceiling using Earth and Stone.

Upon expecting the few ample rooms, I assumed the West Wing was for the highest of nobles. I came across a pair of sturdy gold-painted doors. Two sets of enchanted armor upon skeleton parts flanked the entrance.

I pulled on the handles—locked. I expected the barrens on the door and wondered if I could break down the door while keeping the roof intact. I shook my head,

PAIN

Later...

Besides, even with Petty Elemental Control, my expertise with Stone still needed to be improved.

I journeyed across the main hall to the East Wing. It was filled with smaller rooms and decaying royal furniture. A smaller kitchen and dinner near the front end of the wing and an armory partially organized with shelves of enchanted weapons and armor at the back of the wing. Weapon racks were bolted to the wall, and I noticed a door hanging off its hinges leading outside into a covered smithy.

While scouring the manor, I stepped over numerous skeletons with enchanted robes, armor, weapons, staves, wands, trinkets, and jewelry. Unsealing each and every one of these damned things will be a chore. But for now, I wanted to head back into the basement in search of skill books and spell books.

Back in the classes, I eyed the remains of the dead Instructor at the foot of the altar. I searched around him for anything useful—who knows, it could be a Spell Book underneath him. But I found nothing.

I searched the room and found journals written by the children—surprisingly, many were intact and readable. Also, to my surprise, the children's skeletons near the pyramid had study books.

Study books were written by Enchanters and Mages who aimed to become Symbologists. Opening up the study book, I saw nothing but hieroglyphic text. This was my first time opening a study book. I only heard about them being carried around by Psi students at the Fire Kingdom.

Above the first passage of text was a title—Brilliance and my eyes scanned through the text, not understanding any of it. The second passage was named Fire, and my mind translated the phrases of the text to be Fire. Next was Fyre, which I understood since I had the spell, and the last spell was Pyre.

Skipping through the pages, the remainder of the book consisted of daily mana and meditation exercises. Included were drawings and sketches of poses to cast magic using symbology and how to meditate with specific nearby decorations. I Stashed the book, and after confirming that each study book was similar, I moved on.

Nothing was left of interest around the room, and I was back staring at the Instructor's skeleton. Hmm, I searched the (Class Aptitude) Robes, Lesser Spellwriting I wore and found a ring... just a basic ring, but then I squinted at it and saw, For my dearest Grandson Gideon, scribbled onto it.

I searched the robes for more items and found a tiny parchment scribbled with topics: History of the Ice Kingdom, History of Sainte June, and two more that were illegible. At least this Instructor spoke of history during his rants; my old Instructor Dean never did unless it was the history of the Fire Kingdom and its great heroes.

I then found a key in one of the pockets, a tiny key that I could easily snap in half if I were too careless. Unfortunately, it was too small to fit any of the doors on the upper level. Ah—it could be for his study because Instructor Dean had private quarters.

I marched around the altar, made my way through the right entrance, and saw that it led to a hall that looked exactly like where I came from. Furthermore, I noticed that the end of this hall led to another room identical to the previous one. Seemed like this entire basement was a grid of identical halls and rooms. But just as I was about to become frustrated, I noticed a small sign carved within the stone hall.

I dusted away the cobwebs and squinted at the sign; Second Hall was what I read at the top, and below it, Grade E with an arrow to the left—the room I had just left— Grade F, Fifth Hall, and Main Hall had an arrow pointing to the right.

I continued right, moved through Grade F, and into what appeared to be the Main Hall. I stopped and expanded my cloak of flames to the walls of the spacious hall. I inspected the Main Hall and noticed the floor was not cobblestone but made of paved gravel. Along the walls were unlit torches and decaying wooden frames of unrecognizable pictures.

My instincts told me to turn left down the Main Hall, and as I carefully strolled through the hall, I lit the torches along the way, skillfully turning my flames into stringy-like arms and hands that reached out and touched the oily glazed torches.

I came to a fork at the end of the hall and read the sign engraved on the wall in front of me; Quarters was to the right, and the Third Level was to the left.

I pivoted right and continued down a thinner hallway. There were no torches to light, rather rusty old lanterns hung from the ceiling or slightly buried in the gravel.

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I came to another fork, one path leading straight and another right. Glancing at the sign, I saw that going straight led to the Instructor's quarters, and I continued, counting six reinforced wooden doors on either side of the hall. Within one that was open, I extended my flames, revealing a small tight room with a single bed, wooden dresser, and a desk. Sitting at the desk was a skeleton leaning back with its cracked skull on the floor.

I strolled in to look around. I attempted the wooden wardrobe, but the door broke at the slightest tug, and a falling pile of rat bones frightened me as I jumped back.

PAIN

Dammit!

I sighed and continued back into the hall, checking every room, but found nothing of use or the door to the key. The end of the hall led to a dead end, and I leaned against it. It was like looking for a needle in a castle. I pushed off the wall and checked the rooms once more. These rooms were so damn tiny! How could anyone possibly live in these!?

Something caught my eye. It was in the first room on the left, on the bed, a tattered robe. I telekinetically grabbed it and hovered it in front of me. Undoubtedly, it looked exactly like the (Class Aptitude) Robes, Lesser Spellwriting, but without any enchantments.

Maybe I had it all wrong; this key probably did not lead to a door but to a chest or treasure box instead. I began searching the rooms thoroughly, but after looking around aimlessly, I found nothing. Then, oddly enough, I caught myself eying a stone wall between the dresser and bed in one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Something about it was off, so I approached the wall and knelt to press my hands against the cobbled floor.

I could not feel the presence of the wall in front of me. Which meant this wall was not made of stone. I pressed against the wall and noticed it did not expand my mana zone either. I searched for any latch or lever but could not find anything—agitating. I formed my Fire Blade and stabbed through the fake wall, causing it to melt like wax. It was indeed wax—well made and painted.

I increased my flames, melting the wax wall into a puddle of steaming ooze, and stepped into a short tight passage leading to an iron door. I eyed the keylock, took a deep breath, and slid the key into it. With a light twist, the knob clanked unlocked, and I pushed my way inside.

I studied the secret small cave-like room, big enough for roughly three gents to fit in, with a small desk and chair against the left wall and piles of books—a few spell books and skill books—against the right wall.

I halted my desire to inspect the spells and skills and eyed the massive opened tome on the desk surrounded by broken feather pens and charcoal pencils.

I approached it, kicking the decaying wooden chair out of the way, and leaned over the frail desk to inspect it. Reading only a few words, I understood this to be a journal. I flipped to the front and saw that it had begun when the author, Gideon, was a student, and the journal continued for more than ten years.

I scoffed, shut the tome, and looked at the books against the wall. A book caught my eye, and I rushed over to dig it out from under the pile— Plight of Souls. Now, this was interesting. I eyed the other books and noticed Gideon had stored books about the undead and ghosts.

I tossed the book aside and eyed the skill books, three Night Visions, and two Shadow Phases, and then I eyed the five spell books Summon Ghost. I eagerly unsealed Shadow Phase and learned the skill with ease.

Skill Acquired:

Petty Shadow Phase

I inspected the Summon Ghost, and simply eyeing the seal, I knew the spell would be obtainable. But then I remembered how I failed to learn Ice ...

I exhaled and emitted my mana into the book, the seal quickly broke, and the book flung open and floated before me before dissolving—

Active Acquired:

Summon: Ghost

What a relief... I first tested Petty Shadow Phase—it allowed me to phase into dense shadows or any dark area with absolutely no light—turning my body into a blob of darkness.

While phasing into the shadows, I could go deep into the ground or the walls where no light reached. Inside, I was able to look up... or out... and noticed light and darkness had switched properties. Areas of dark spots were areas I could not resurface from because there was light present in that area. The lighter spots were where I could resurface from, but because they represented a dark area, I had no clue where I was resurfacing.

But upon activating Petty Night Vision, I could make out tiny details where the light and dark met. One of the downsides of Shadow Phasing was that it was similar to swimming, forcing me to hold my breath. Curiously, I wondered what would happen if I tried to breathe, so I tried. A fierce force took hold of me, and my body was propelled at an increasing speed toward the nearest lit area. I ejected from out of the shadows like a bolting arrow and smashed into the ceiling of the First Hall.

PAIN

That could be dangerous to test here...

I groaned as I lifted myself. I started to walk off the pins and needles like pain, but an idea struck me. Instead of walking back, I decided to swim back using Shadow Phase. Phasing in and out of the ground rapidly, my body resembling a skipping pool of darkness—it was pretty exhilarating. With Recall Memory, my eyes and orientation adapted swiftly to the reversed properties.

In Gideon's secret room, I tested Summon Ghost and saw that it required a soul from within my soul chamber.

PAIN

Fascinating.

I used one of the souls I acquired from the lagardientes. Any one of them would do as I noted no difference in souls. To my astonishment, a glistening soul appeared in my hand and brutally ripped itself into three ghosts while letting out a bloodcurdling scream of a lagardiente.

My hair stood on end at the painful sound echoing off the stone walls. The ripped souls formed into three smokey ghosts that wailed out in pain before darting into the shadows. I lowered my flames and used Petty Night Vision to get a good look at the ghosts. They were floating boney-like orbs that resembled skulls with no nose, had wide mouths full of wiggling round teeth, and one centered eye socket filled with a sizeable darting eye.

My connection with the ghosts was strong compared to my other familiars. I could see anything my ghosts saw; even better, they had better Night Vision than me. But, unfortunately, they could not hear a thing while my undead familiars could send me signals of what they heard.

I Scanned them out of curiosity. My mouth fell agape—they each had two active skills: Petty Soul Siphon and Lesser Night Vision, and two auras: Petty Fear Aura and Petty Chill Aura.

I was apparently immune to both as I felt no fear or chill coming from them, but they definitely had it as I noticed condensation slowly forming on the cave walls they cowered next to. But Soul Siphon? I had a guess on how it differed from Soul Harvest, but there was only one way to know.

Sending them up through the ceiling and into the night sky above the city, I saw how speedy they were, and I was amazed that my connection with them stayed strong no matter how far they went. I also felt them becoming denser and faster while within the moonlight. Testing their speed, I commanded one to return to my ruins. For the other two, I had them roam around the city and the plains to search for anything to test Soul Siphon.

While the ghosts zoomed across the plain, I retrieved the journal from the desk and sat against the wall to read it. If Gideon was into Plight of Souls, he might have jotted down something about obtaining better control over the undead... maybe... just maybe, he too sought to bring back a loved one from the dead.