Chapter 11: Only The Strong Will Survive

Pushing myself off the ground, I set out on my journey refreshed. Meditating before I left to go somewhere was always nice. If I had to explain it, I would have to say that it felt like a nap. It didn’t give me that much energy, but it gave me enough. My giant zombie rat followed behind me quietly as I made my way through the dark sewers. As I walked, I whistled a quiet tune that matched with the tapping of my sword. Hey, I had to find a source of entertainment somehow.

After walking for a few minutes I began to hear the sounds of combat. Hmm? Intrigued I picked up my pace until I arrive in a small clearing. Peeking out of my hiding spot, I was met with a strange site. It seemed that the giant rats were fighting some type of….bat? I took a closer look at the mysterious creature so I could see its stats.

Sinister Adult Bat - Lv.8

Hp: 30/45

Woah. I was not expecting this. I had assumed there were only giant rats in this part of the sewers. According to the sight in front of me, that guess was wrong. From what I could see there were actually three of these bats at the least, which were flying around the giant rats below them. Although there seemed to be more giant rats, the sinister bats had a higher level. They also weren’t limited to fighting on the ground. It was essentially quality versus quantity.

But what the hell was I looking at? I must’ve stumbled upon some type of war that was between giant rats and sinister bats. They were staring at each other in unconcealed hate so I was pretty sure they were planning on fighting to the death. As I watched quietly, I wondered what I should do. I didn’t want to leave yet since there were quite a bit of corpses on the ground, bat and rat alike. I couldn’t just jump out in the battle since I would be slaughtered easily. Those bats that were flying were twice my level after all.

Hmm. Decisions, decisions. As I was thinking I took another glance at the ensuing battle. Only to meet the eyes of a sinister bat. What?! It could see me? That was question was answered as it dive bombed toward me. I managed to dodge the oncoming attack by rolling forward. Right into the giant rats.

Fuck.

Scanning my surroundings, I held my sword in a combat stance. Shit, I hadn’t expected my location to be revealed so easily. What was I supposed to do now? Right now both sides had stopped combat and were staring at me. They were probably wondering which side I was on. My heart plummeted down through my chest as I realized just how many monsters were in this clearing. Dozens! I had to choose what I did next carefully or else I wouldn’t be getting out of this situation alive.

My eyes moved around the battlefield quickly, looking for something that could help my situation. I noticed that the sinister bats looked even more fearsome up close. They were like normal bats except of a larger size. They also had larger claws and a malicious grin. The ones that were of a higher level also had fur around their necks. Odd, I wondered why that was so. I would’ve tried to examine the rats next however I didn’t think I had enough time. I was already wasting enough time as is.

After I examined most of the bats, I finally saw something that I could use. I might survive this battle yet.

Undead Carnivorous Bat - Lv.10

Hp: 50/60

This undead bat was the highest level creature on the battlefield. I was positive he could kill me quite easily. However he was my only chance for survival. I couldn’t escape since I was cornered on all sides. Since he was an undead, I might be able to strike a deal with him. He should be able to understand me….right? Well there was only one way I would be able to find out.

“Um, hello Mr. Undead Bat, I mean you no harm. I was only passing through.”

I was trying to be as polite as I could since I didn’t feel like dying quite yet. I was hoping this conversation could be done quickly because I doubted these giant rats would wait much longer. I could see one right now with his muscles twitching. The only reason they didn’t move was because they thought I could change the tides of battle. Maybe I could, who knew?

The undead prophet fixed me with a deadly gaze before responding.

“Ah, an undead prophet. I haven’t seen one of your kind in years. So you say you were just passing through…heh. Why not help some of your kind and fight with us in this battle, hmm? If you do I promise you won’t be harmed….at least not by me.”

…..What the fuck. This bat was such a dick. For some reason I felt as if he knew I didn’t have a choice. This was probably why he was acting so confident. Or he knew what my level was. Which I hoped he didn’t. I was incomparably weak when compared to him and I didn’t need him to act anymore cocky. As I thought of this another question sprung up from my mind. Could monsters see my level? If they could it would explain why I kept on being attacked on site. My enemies probably thought I was an easy meal thanks to my low level. Hmm, I would have to think on this later.

 From the way the undead bat said it, it seemed that undead prophets were quite rare. A few years was quite a long time. But if what he was saying was true then that mean there had been undead prophets before the world had changed. Did this mean that he was from the other world that earth was combined with? Tch, I  had too many questions and not enough time to answer them.

Looking towards the undead bat, I agreed with the proposal. I also mentioned that the undead rat next to me was on my side. He responded to me with a raised eyebrow. It seemed that killing other undead was frowned upon. How was I supposed to know?

I thought about the proposal I accepted as I turned toward the giant rats. I didn’t really want to call it a proposal since I really didn’t have a choice. It was either help the bats or be attacked by them and the giant rats. I couldn’t join the giant rats since they didn’t have an undead on their side that I could speak with. I could’ve tried to get my undead rat to speak with them but it was too late. I had already made my decision.

Slamming my left hand on the ground quickly, I launched three earthen spikes toward a group of rats. The moment my spikes pierced through the giant rats flesh, the battle resumed. What happened after that could be summed in one word. Chaos.

Coating my sword in electricity, I swung at whatever looked like a rat. I made sure to not hit any of the bats that were flying around. I was pretty sure that if I accidently hit one, I would be next on their list to kill. Time passed by quickly as I timed my attacks with my zombie rat. Together we were a forced to be reckoned with.

Dodging an attack from a rat behind me, I launched another one in the air with an earthen spike. A sinister bat soon plucked it from the sky and finished it off. I had to admit that although the undead bat was cocky, he had a reason to be. He was like a tornado on the battle field when he decided to attack. He was so fast that I couldn’t even see when he had moved. At least I was on his side. For now at least.

After fighting for the next twenty minutes, the battle was finally finished. Both sides had suffered casualties but the bats ended up winning. The remaining rats were being chased off by the bats that were still in good health.

Wiping the sweat off my face, I crouched down next to my zombie rat. Sadly it had not made it through the battle. I couldn’t blame it since it was fighting creatures that were stronger than it. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t a little bit affected by its death. I had grown rather close to it the more we fought together. As I closed its eyelids shut, it dissolved into bone dust. I spent the next few minutes in silence staring at the dust.

I could already feel tears welling up in my eyes. Ridiculous right? It was just a zombie rat after all. However it was something I had made with my own hands. Something I could call mine. As I stared at the bone dust I made a decision. The next zombie I made would be powerful, powerful enough to survive. I was tired of looking at the corpses of my creation. That wasn’t the type of necromancer I wanted to be. If I created something, I expected it to live, to fight by my side. Not to die for me.

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I was interrupted from my thinking when I felt a leathery wing on my back. I removed my face from my hands to look behind me. Huh, it was the undead bat. What did he want? Now that he was close to me I could finally see just  how big he was. He was bigger than me! I was too melancholy however to continue that train of thought, so I stared at the bone dust in silence instead.

“The death of a comrade is always hard. Don’t worry too much, he died in battle. That is an honorable death.”

I glanced upwards at the undead bat as I tried to contemplate what he had just said. What he trying to offer words of encouragement? That was….strange. I had assumed he was a dick but I guess everyone had their moment. I was still confused as to why I was so affected by my zombie rat’s death. It was odd…to say the least.

“It’s all good. I’m just surprised I was even affected by my zombie’s death. I expected it eventually, but not like this. If I was just a bit faster my zombie wouldn’t have had to take that attack from me. I mean I can just make another one but it won’t be the same.”

I could feel the undead bad  shaking its head in agreement as I spoke. However on my last sentence I noticed his body tense with shock. However I was too depressed to care so I ignored it. If only I had been stronger. Would it that had been my brother? I could see him doing the same thing as my zombie. Dying for me. I needed to become stronger. Strong enough to protect the people I cared for.

Before I could think about my situation more, I was turned around quickly. With my head bobbing up and down from the motion, I glanced at the undead bat in confusion. What did it want now? Was that awe on its face?

“Wait…you can create undead? Bring something back to life that was once dead?”

The undead bat was looking at me with a fervent gaze. I was surprised he hadn’t known. How else would I have gotten the zombie rat that followed me? I didn’t see what the big deal was so I just decided to tell him the truth.

“Yah, that’s how I got my zombie rat to begin with. I just reanimated the corpse.”

The more I talked the more I was filled with determination. I could get revenge on those damnable rats thanks to all of the corpses that were littered around the battlefield. My zombie rat’s death would not be in vain. Pushing down my sadness I took another glance at the undead bat. What the hell? Why was he looking at me like that? I also noticed that his voice began to take a reverent tone as he spoke to me.

“So all of my comrades that just died…you can bring them back to life?”

Where was he going with this?

“If their corpses are still intact, then yes. Even if the corpses are in pieces, I could still reanimate them with a couple of rituals I know.”

After these words came out of my mouth I was pushed toward one of the bat’s corpse. At first I was going to ask for an incentive, but from the way the undead bat was looking at me, I didn’t think things would end well if I did. As I pulled out my journal I noticed that quite a few bats were looking at me. Oh well, if they wanted to see something amazing, I would show them something amazing.

I decided not to combine two corpses into one because it didn’t seem as if that was what they wanted to see. I had a feeling that if I didn’t please them with my results, I might not live that long. However if I could prove to them that I was invaluable, then I would be guaranteed protection. I could turn this situation into a favorable one as long as I put my mind to it.

Scanning through the necromancer’s notes, I looked for tips on how to strengthen a body. The corpse didn’t have to be stronger, it just needed to be reanimated. I found what I was looking for a few minutes later. All I needed to do was add a few symbols and chant a few more words. I could do this. I was going to show these bats just what I was capable of.

Clearing out everything around the dead bat, I began the ritual. First I made an earthen brush so I could paint the symbols. I spent a little bit of time making sure the earthen brush actually acted like a brush. I wanted this ritual to be perfect so there could be no mistakes. Dipping my brush in the bat’s blood, I began to paint strange and exotic symbols. As I painted them, I infused my mana into the blood so the corpse’s body would be stronger. A few minutes of intense concentrating and I was done with the first part.

After double checking my work, I moved onto the next part. I was forced to take my eyes of the corpse as I began to chant the words from the journal. Although I had memorized some of the words already, I had to add some in order to get better results. Whenever a certain word rolled off my tongue I was filled with excitement. What the hell was I chanting? Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I touched one of the symbols with my hand. With my hand on one of the symbols, I began pouring mana into the blood.

As I did this sweat poured down my face. I could feel every symbol activating the moment my mana touched them. I would have to experiment later to see what each of these symbols meant. Blood began to flow back towards the bat as my chant went on. One thing I noticed was that the symbols were gathering blood from a nearby rat. Did it not matter what kind of blood was gathered? More questions but no answers.

Once enough blood was gathered, the flesh of the bat began to heal. It was a strange sight to see. It looked as if the muscles would stretch over the missing pieces and then return to their normal sizes. This meant that the torn out through would look stretched for a few seconds until it healed. I had no idea how this was possible but maybe in time I would. A few minutes later and I was crouched in front of a fully healed corpse. Now all I had to do was reanimate it.

Chanting the last words of the ritual, I took a step back and reviewed my results. I was notified about my necromancy skill leveling up but I ignored if for now. I had bigger things to worry about.

Undead Sinister Adult Bat - Lv.8

Hp: 45/45

Looking around in confusion, the reanimated bat began to move. I noticed that for some reason I could feel its confusion. I could see it also, but I could instinctively tell that it was confused. Was it because it possessed some of my mana in its body? Hwaah. I had so many questions. I would definitely have to investigate further.

I listened idly as the undead bat began to talk with my reanimation. I learned quite a few things from their conversation. It turned out that my reanimations kept their memories from their previous life. But even with their memories, they were more loyal to me than anything else, even their king. I wondered if this was because of the ritual or if they felt they were indebted to me for bring them back to life. Who knew?

I also learned that the undead bat I was speaking to was the general of the bat army. I guessed I would start calling him general now so I wouldn’t get confused. I felt a small smile appear on my face as my reanimation stood in front of me protectively. If things went south I knew who I could count on. Once my reanimation and the general were done talking, he looked toward me. His face was no longer cocky. Instead it was filled with awe. Yes, I could definitely use this to my advantage.

AN:  For some reason I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I don't know why, I just did. Tell me what you guys think. Thanks for reading!