Arachnid’s Lair
Back near the southern wilds, Pain stirs awake after eating a poisonous arachnid limb...
When I woke up, I was incredibly limp and could barely move. My mana was utterly drained, and I had no sense of my skeleton. Every breath I took seemed like I inhaled clouds of minuscule blades piercing my mouth, throat, and lungs. My body was rid of fluid, and Infinite Lesser Regeneration was doing its best to replenish it.
I rolled out of my sleeping area and crawled toward the rays of sunlight beaming off the platform outside the River Door. I cupped some water into my mouth and moaned as it soothed my throat and stomach.
My energy gradually returned as I lay there and stared at my rough reflection in the ravaging stream—I blinked. Something was moving through the water. Another one zipped past my gaze, and then another one. Fish? This river had fish? Dammit, why did I not check before?
No, Recall Memory revealed to me there were no fish in the river when I first fell in. Something must be happening upstream. But I did not dwell on whatever it was; instead, I drank water until I could not anymore. Then after recovering a fragment of my energy, I grabbed at the fish—nearly falling into the stream in my clumsiness.
The bastards were slippery, but I caught one by pinning it against the platform. I pulled it out and stabbed it with my claws. There was no need to stop as I saw plenty of fish wiggling downstream. I continued until I gathered sixteen fish before returning them two at a time to my room.
I placed the fish on the neatest of the two Black Robes and sat to stare at them. I smiled softly; some things do get better, I suppose. I then grabbed one and steadily roasted it in my hands. Petty Heatmaster gave me a rough insight on the amount of heat needed to cook this morsel, and that was all the passive did... nothing special.
I immediately bit into it the moment it was cooked, spat out the scales, and picked out the bones. Three fish tested my patience, and I soon discovered that plucking out bones and spitting out scales was enjoyable. With Recall Memory, the biology of the fish began to form a rhythm in my mind, and the process became natural.
After my meal, I went to the Chamber to try my newly acquired spells.
Hmm... how I understood it; Summon Skeleton Kinan Warrior was created from having my skeleton—made of kinan bones, carry a sword and shield, and kill critters. Summon Skeleton Ritual granted me Summon Skeleton Kinan because the skeleton was made of kinan bones. I still had Summon Skeleton Ritual, which could be used with different bones.
Summoning was not like casting. I read about this before...it was about conjuring, but it should also apply to necromancy. Casting developed through mana control, manipulation, and increasing my mana pool. Casting did not grant new spells like fireball or fire spear.
Those had to be learned on my own or through a spell tech book. So, it was more of a technique of the base spell rather than a whole new spell.
But as for summoning, summoning evolved entirely by finding out the hidden knowledge—knowledge not revealed to me by learning a spell.
For instance, if I were to learn Water, I would know how to cast it, but there could be many hidden aspects learned after casting and playing around with the spell; it is hot, cold, sprinkles, or shoots out too fast.
I could Summon Skeleton Kinan without using bones, making it a valuable spell. Using the spell caused my mana to form a black-purplish hieroglyphic symbol emanating from my hands—similar to Abigail's. And unlike the ritual version of this spell, I could infuse more mana into it during the summoning if I wanted to.
Out of the symbol came a sturdy skeleton—glowing with my mana energy. As I gazed upon it and saw my mana swimming up and down its bone body, I figured I could infuse additional mana into it after the summoning. Unfortunately, though, if anything organic touched this skeleton, it would get mana burned by my mana.
I sat and searched my old thoughts: casting magic such as Fire caused my mind to order my mana to change its property into fire. My mind knew how to achieve this even though I was unaware. It was strikingly similar to how my mind and brain kept my heart beating or how my mind and brain ordered my muscles to contract and expand whenever I moved my limbs. So, how did my mind understand Fire ...
Spell books contained mana patterns called hieroglyphs, the fundamental language of magic, and depending on the complexity of the patterns; my mind would either understand it or not. The seal that bound magic books was likewise covered in intricate hieroglyphs. The degree to which I would automatically comprehend this would occasionally depend on a percentage that rose through repeated exposure.
When it came to magic, I could burn myself with my Fire because my mana pattern would be disrupted once the magic was cast. I understood this made it difficult for my enemy to decipher my mana pattern and also gave my mana the ability to become hostile and damage others. Intermediate mages and wizards could prevent their mana from shambling. An extraordinary feat. They did so to prevent mana from burning organic tissue, watering plants, or using Fire to entertain or create light.
The other reason my Fire would burn me was my mana zone. I could cast fire from my hands—that was my mana zone. I never understood how mages and wizards could cast spells from the air. It was as if trying to grow a tail from my backside... actually... that may be possible with magic—I was still baffled by the idea.
The mana surrounding my new skeleton was shambled and was not draining any of my mana to keep it stable. Instead, the amount of mana I used to summon it was the amount keeping it stable. So, I assumed it would wither away if I did not pour my mana into it after some time.
I Summoned Skeleton Kinan Warrior, and out of the hieroglyphic symbol emerged a thick glowing kinan skeleton. From its initial movements, I noticed that it moved slower than its basic counterpart. Its boney hands were slightly larger, likely meant to hold things, so I retrieved the Iron Short Sword +3 and handed it to my Skeleton Warrior.
Aptitude Increase:
Summon: Skeleton Kinan Shielder (5%)
Summon: Skeleton Kinan Slasher (5%)
Summon: Skeleton Kinan Defender (5%)
It would be best to start ignoring my aptitude growth unless it was something worth noticing. The Skeleton Warrior stood superior to my skeleton with its denser bones. I picked up the Wooden Shield +1 and handed it to the Skeleton Warrior. The shield burned slightly due to mana burn, but it held together.
PAIN
Now you seem like a true warrior... Hmph, a pathetic warrior.
I smiled softly and looked over at the baby arachnid remains, but even with all of my mana, I did not have enough mana to Summon Undead Ritual. Thinking about arachnids, I had to figure out where they were coming from. I scoured the ruins for any signs of burrows for the next few hours. Once my mana fully returned, I used Summon Skeleton Kinan to create another skeleton before continuing my search.
The library was the darkest area within the ruins, so I sought a method to light the area. I took the old crumbling wax candles, heated them up, and combined a few pieces, forming a long bizarre-looking candle. I supplemented a few with brown silk and melded them together with heat.
I scattered them all about the library, and gradually they lit the area. Looking up at the ceiling, I could make out the outline of a candle chandelier. It was about seventeen feet off the ground, and I would rather carefully light it than accidentally blow it up. I stood upon one of the stone tables and carefully emitted soft puffs of flames at one of the candles. It flickered to life after several tries.
The light was not much, but it was sufficient enough for me to make out the dry webbing-covered walls and the deep crevice that led behind a bookshelf. I walked up to it and kneeled to inspect a gaping tunnel behind the foot of the shelf.
Hmm... I could squeeze down there if I tried... But the uncertainty of where it led worried me. I crept forward to get a closer look inside; the tunnel widened with a gentle slope downward, and the tunnel walls were all hardened soil and stone, giving me a sense of security. I sighed; if I sought to take care of those arachnids, I must find out where they were coming from. I climbed in headfirst just to cast at anything that came at me. It would be hard to get my skeletons through the narrow tunnel—those skeletons were not particularly flexible.
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The tunnel widened into a whole opening and into a large cave lit by a few ruby mana crystals at the end and blightshrooms along the walls to my left and right— lady luck is smiling upon me, I thought. Mana crystals were precious, and hundreds of broad veins jutted out of the ground ahead of me near a wide bend.
In their light, I saw large arachnid egg sacks, old kinan bones, rusted pickaxes, an old broken wagon, and tons of webbing along the walls.
The bend ahead turned left, but I slowed to a stop, not wanting to go further. I turned back, and from my peripheral vision, there was something—an enormous creature above me. I pretended not to notice it as I returned to the tunnel entrance. A silent beast—I heard not a sound as it slowly turned to follow from above me. I prepared a ball of flame that I held at my chest—carefully strengthening it while restricting its size. But the creature saw the light and jumped down—I turned on it and hurled the ball of flame—I missed! I Quickstepped towards the tunnel as the beast fell from the ceiling.
Fear fed my adrenaline as the beast's image became clear to me—it was a gigantic arachnid queen, a gray horned carapace with dark spots, its head full of eyes, and its limbs sharp and riddled with reverse spikes. It rapidly clawed at the tunnel, ripping off my left foot. I grunted and pushed through the pain, dragging myself back into the library.
PAIN
Dammit!
For a moment, I lay motionless, feeling the pounding rhythm of my heart, stirring my entire body. For some odd reason, I grinned feebly at the throbbing pain, and from where I was lying, I could hear the beast retreating deeper into its lair. This was a familiar feeling—I sat up, remembering my sick delight when I ridiculed my tormentors back at the Fire Kingdom.
PAIN
I am going to kill that insect.
I proclaimed softly to myself as I sat there,
PAIN
Because I am no longer an insect.
Just because I was far from the Fire Kingdom, I did not mean I should ever shy away from the thought of revenge. Remembering my old friend Sora's mantra, if people wanted revenge, they should act upon it—let it feed their passion to seek justice—rules created by the strong and privileged. But there were some who did not know how to properly enact revenge; they were sloppy and impatient.
A perfect revenge requires patience, careful planning, and an unexpected attack. For this damn arachnid, all I needed was a little training and growth. With insufficient training, I learned to summon skeletons and hurl balls of flame. Now, after witnessing a little power, I required more... This was only the beginning.
I limped back to my room, ate, and rested a bit. Recall Memory replayed the feeling of my foot getting ripped off, I did not feel any pain, and I just remembered how it felt... in a way. Recall Memory continued on, recalling the many types of pain I felt during my torture at the Kingdom of Fire, throughout the forest, and my time in these ruins... as if it was attempting to motivate me.
I awoke during the middle of the night and began my seven-week training... Seven weeks should suffice. I would train both my streams of fire and fireballs. During my breaks, I cleaned out my room and organized. After taking hand-cupped showers on the platform, I used the other robes as a towel.
During brief meditation to allow my mana to regenerate, I realized that doing so boosted my Petty Mana Regeneration aptitude. I somehow felt it, despite how faint it was, and as I continued to meditate daily, the rate of my aptitude steadily increased.
Aptitude Increase:
Petty Mana Regeneration (19%)
And the same applied to my fire casting training.
Aptitude Increase:
Petty En Fire Casting (30%)
During one of my breaks, I made use of all the dried-out webs that had lost their adhesiveness and made a fishing net... after a few disappointing tries. I caught several fish with it in less than two minutes and had a time-consuming meal, picking through the bones and scales of my roasted fish.
My mind wandered as I ate, thinking about how lovely it would be to have servants bring me roasted... no, "fish filet" was what the castle maids called it. I remembered how my stomach would growl, and my mouth would water at the scent of such delicacy. I never saw a fish filet with my own eyes or wrapped pig, stripped pig, broiled pig... hmm, I smiled at the thought. There was plenty of pig-named food the servants and maids would taunt us scribes with... I always wondered if they were telling the truth or mocking us. But the scent was there, and I was yearning to be able to make my own someday.
After a few more days of training, I could turn my flames into fireballs that could travel the entire length of the Chamber. The closer my target was to me, the more devastating my fireball's explosion was. Conversely, I had to change how I cast my beam of fire—rather than trying to emit it from my palms, I could cast it from my wrist by straightening my hand flat like a knife. I found it much easier to control a stream of fire this way—it was as if my hands became two-foot-long fiery blades. Hmm... this would do well in close combat. I did my best to mimic the few daggers play I saw in the massive training courts of the Fire Castle.
With Recall Memory, I formed my own style of fighting—holding onto what felt correct and abandoning moves that felt clumsy and sluggish. With this new style, I continued my Fire Blade training during a stormy day upon the debris within the Collapsed Tower. I got carried away by the sturdiness of the debris, using my Fire Blades, transitioning to Fireballs, and then Fire Blades again. I leaped back and lobbed several fireballs before Quickstepping in with a two-handed Firebomb.
To my surprise, the explosion threw me back against the tower's walls. Gravel began to pour from above me. The dripping dew became a steady stream of water. I shook off my dizziness as the debris began to chip away and streams of water shot out. I quickly got up and jumped out of the way of a crumbling chunk of stone. I tumbled down the stairs as more plates of stone fell after me. The blockage of debris gave away, allowing water to explode from behind me, pick me up, and force me down the rest of the stairs.
I got up—the water rose to my calves as I inspected the damage. The debris now wholly blocked the stairs and appeared unstable. I feared one false touch may send the entirety of the room and its stone pillar collapsing upon me. In case it suddenly fell on its own, I left the Tower hastily and continued my future training routines within the Chamber.
In my final week of training, I trained my physical body for hours, allowing Infinite Lesser Regeneration to repair the micro tears in my muscles. I did not know how damaging it would be to eat nothing but fish as a vampire. I should be alright, I think.
*****
Aptitude Increase:
Petty Mana Regeneration (60%)
Petty En Fire Casting (96%)
On the last evening of my seven-week-long training day, I retired early to my room and tried to make sense of the map, but after a few minutes, I gave up. I had no idea where I was on the map or if I was even on the map. I reorganized my books and did another round of cleaning… I eyed Bane of Winterfort and realized I had not read the past several days. My mana was low, slowly regenerating, and I was about to face that damn arachnid soon, so I decided to read and allow my mana to recover for the upcoming battle.
Hmm... I looked through my collection for Plight of Souls, the necromancer shunned from his kingdom for being attuned to dark magic as if he had control over it. There was no enlightenment from such past events because similar hate ran amok within the Fire Kingdom. A few towns and cities within the Kingdom of Fire disliked anyone different.
I sighed and opened the book. The book escalated quickly, and I learned a bit about necromancy and the dangers it posed. I learned the shunned necromancer was hunted by bounty hunters as if he was a wild beast. They found his loved one and sentenced her to be burned to death.
Years passed, and the necromancer became known as the Shinigami. His power and control over the undead were prevalent throughout the lands, but he wanted only one thing. He was running out of time as he became old; nevertheless, with his profound knowledge and extensive understanding of the dead, he restored his loved one to perfect life rather than as an undead—only to have her snatched away by a pack of wolves.
I nearly smiled at the irony... How gruesome...
PAIN
Hmm...
I was about to feel bad for him, but I wondered if any of this was true. I have no recollection of any kingdom rife with a powerful Necromancer. Can we really bring back the dead? The idea of Dante escaping Hell came to mind, followed by Valentine's words about seeing into Limbo and Instructor Dahli about how I do not want to die—as if he knew something about the afterlife.
My jaws clenched at the thought of Locness. Could I bring her back if I continue down this path of necromancy? Her scream's reverberations echoed in my head, seemingly trying to explain something to me.
PAIN
I will bring her back.
I declared to myself as I eyed Plight of Souls.
PAIN
And I will make the Fire Kingdom pay.
I took a deep breath and stood.
PAIN
But first, this damned queen.