image [https://i.imgur.com/yFu9mOD.png]

XIV

Undead Assimilation

‘There are two things I want your help with right away,’ I told our new mage at breakfast the next morning.

Leah closed her eyes in an effort to find mental peace.

I raised a finger after swallowing a slice of fluffy brown bread. ‘Finding where the orcs are keeping our people.’

‘We can use any items the orcs had on them,’ she said despite her knuckles whitening.

I smiled. Xun had made Leah swear to grant any reasonable request to the best of her ability. Enjoying the frustration that brought the apprentice was a small satisfaction I allowed myself.

‘They may contain traces if we’re lucky,’ she continued.

‘What kind of traces?’ Levi said, voicing the immediate question on the lips of the frostguards around the table (who we’re happily surprised Leah was joining us).

Leah opened her mouth—

‘The Law of Sympathy,’ I answered in her stead, thinking of her injured jaw and not at all trying to one-up her out of pettiness. ‘A person’s handling of an object leaves behind residues of their intent and emotions on said object, which a skilled mage can read like words on a page.’

Both magus and apprentice shot me wide eyes.

‘I’m impressed, Warden,’ the magus said. ‘Though you call on sorcery, I didn’t expect you to be knowledgeable on magical theory.’

The compliment lost some of its touch since he was wearing a bib to keep the white robe he was wearing from dirtying. It was a serious effort not to chuckle.

‘Only in passing,’ I said.

Syiin had been a proficient Archon, and sometimes I had found the motivation to query him on magical laws.

Levi chewed noisily as he thought. ‘We still have the failed portal rune.’

Malakai quickly explained how we had come across such an item.

‘That would be perfect,’ Leah said begrudgingly.

Her master agreed. ‘Rune crafting is precise work. The artisan must carefully inscribe the locations onto the rune in order to facilitate a link between them.’

‘Your second request?’ Leah said.

‘Aiding in the interrogation of our captive.’

Levi’s brow rose. ‘We have a captive?’

‘One of the orcs of yesternight, Sir,’ Malakai answered. ‘He was placed in the dungeon.’

It was the one who’d ran with the shaman—

The cold connection of an undead snapped in place in my head. I frowned. I didn’t recognise the signature, but it was coming from the larch forest…ah. Is that…? I told them to head towards me.

‘I won’t assist in torturing him,’ Leah said, bringing my attention back. She glanced at her master, who took a generous bite of his meal in silence.

Right. Reasonable requests only.

‘That was not my intention,’ I said.

‘Then you want me to mind read them?’ she asked, catching on quick. ‘Possible. But the orc will need to be in a relaxed state of mind.’

‘Would putting him to sleep work?’ Jaeger said. He glanced at his pommel.

‘It would.’

With that settled, we quickly finished the rest of our meal.

image [https://i.imgur.com/z6G5s0x.png]

‘I’ll wait in the dining hall,’ Levi said. ‘I dislike dungeons.’

So he stayed with the guards, which left Jaeger, Malakai, Xun, Leah, and I to make the trip to the dungeon entrance on the first floor.

The magus took us into a side passage near the entrance to the tower that had a dead end. Until he pulled a lever disguised as a wall-mounted torch, and the walls separated to reveal a staircase that was a mirror to the one going up.

Xun held out his palm. An orb of light appeared that lit the descent into the underworld. Our footfalls echoed on moist steps as the master mage’s spell cast a wide berth, refuting the existence of darkness wherever it touched.

We only needed to go down a single set of steps.

The spell did its work and revealed the bare-bones dungeon: rough-hewn walls with iron chains jutting out and a single piss bucket in the centre that was filled to the brim. A spell from the magus later, the bucket was empty, thankfully improving the smell in the dungeon.

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‘He’s fast asleep,’ Jaeger commented.

The “greenskin” had been stripped to his underwear. Most of his skin had turned black and blue. His head was lolled into his chest, and a string of drool dripped down the side of his muzzle.

‘He’s faking it,’ I said.

Jaeger studied the orc again, then glanced at me.

‘A hunch,’ I said. Sleep and death were related; I could tell one from the other. ‘You mentioned a sleeping spell?’

Jaeger smiled and reached for his sword, but Leah quickly drew her wand. A moment of focus later, the orc’s already slack posture went limp.

Jaeger cursed under his breath as Leah knelt in front of the orc. ‘Anything besides the hostages I need to search for?’

I considered. ‘A warlord named Grimhand. Find where his armies are stationed.’

‘Alright.’ The hands she placed on the orc’s forehead glowed with a faint blue light.

‘This may take a while,’ Xun warned.

‘How long?’ I asked.

Tables and chairs appeared with a flourish of Xun’s arms. He flopped into his seat. ‘Depending on how deep the memories are—’

Leah screamed and threw herself backwards as something popped inside the orc’s skull. The magus’s chair clattered to the ground—he was at her side at once, hand on her shoulder as he cast a barrier.

My soldiers were ready, too, but we all watched, stunned, as blood poured from our captive’s nose and ears before he fell on the floor, his chains rattling as he did.

I strode forwards and lifted the orc’s head with the tip of my blade. My face turned sour. He was dead.

‘What happened?’ Jaeger hissed.

The magus let his barrier vanish. ‘She triggered a defensive mechanism planted into the orc’s brain.’

‘That was our biggest lead, Leah,’ I snarled.

The master mage solemnly shook his head. ‘This was not carelessness, Warden. You’ve experienced her capabilities firsthand. There aren’t many who can hide a spell so well she wouldn’t at least notice its presence.’

...there was truth in that.

Leah was holding onto her head. ‘They must be on your level, Master,’ she said, and Xun nodded.

‘That means your apprentice’s aid won’t be enough, Xun,’ I started and was interrupted when he held up his hand.

‘My hands are tied, Warden.’

I raised an eyebrow.

The magus turned to the back wall of the dungeon, staring at a place visible solely in his mind. ‘Though I’m far from home, I’m still of the blood. My participation in a conflict between two nations will incite the wrath of the entire highblood council. I cannot risk that. Not even for a dear neighbour.’

Now it was my turn to pinch my forehead. ‘Your apprentice…’

‘Will still be available,’ he said. ‘She’s not a highblood, so she cannot be held to our standards.’

Silence passed. An angled light beam fell on the cloud of dust whipped up by the whispers of unspoken words.

Not a highblood, huh. Well, it wasn’t my business. I blew away the fine particles assaulting my nose.

‘First teleporting orcs,’ Jaeger said wearily, sheathing his sword. ‘Now, a magus that we cannot handle.’

Beside me, Malakai grimaced.

There was a snappy huff of breath. Leah freed herself from the magus and raised her chin. ‘By all means, continue belittling yourselves, but do not drag me into your pity party. Though I’m not the Master’s match, he cannot swat me like a fly. This unknown magus will find me a thorn in their side at the very least.’

Xun smiled and patted his student on the shoulder. ‘That’s the spirit, Leah.’ He regarded me. ‘Moreover, there’s another angle at play.’

‘Oh?’

‘Given you have some background in magic,’ he said, ‘I may have some learning materials. Leah can aid you in your studies; my methodologies are burned into her heart.’

‘You may call me Master,’ she said.

I almost rolled my eyes. The fact that she got on my nerves aside, it was a boon. Though I knew death, frost magic was not a known school to me.

Leah stepped away from the corpse and joined my side. Her stride was confident and bold, her golden hair swaying with the burning of her pride.

‘So. You mentioned a portal rune?’

image [https://i.imgur.com/z6G5s0x.png]

We left the dungeon. Leah retreated to her study, saying she needed to prepare for the inquiry into the stone (she was taking it extremely seriously). Jaeger left as well, mentioning something about speaking with the other frostguards about sending word to Castle Frost of recent events.

That left Xun, Malakai, and I.

‘Would you like a tour of the tower, Warden?’ the magus said. ‘There are some rooms I think will be of interest to you.’

‘Maybe later. There’s someone I need to pick up.’

Xun tilted his head but I didn’t elaborate. Instead, I made my way to the stables.

‘Did something happen to one of your undead, Warden?’ Malakai said.

‘You could say that. Are you certain you want to come with? He’s quite far away, still.’

My guard captain dead-panned, and I chuckled.

‘Forgive me,’ I said.

image [https://i.imgur.com/z6G5s0x.png]

Our mounts devoured the distance, and we reached the location of where I was sensing my undead. The orc shaman stopped limping once we reached him.

Hoh. I thought it had been him but I couldn’t be sure.

Malakai appeared at my side. ‘Did you forget to collect him, Warden?’

‘Not at all.’

I dismounted and circled the orc.

[Undead caster, lvl 3.]

He was haggard and thin, and his wolf’s head was torn from where my ice shards had narrowly missed him. Black veins ran from his leg to his upper torso and branched up his throat to cover his face. My finger stroked along one them. Death energy. The undead miasma I’d infused into my shard must’ve corrupted him overnight. It would’ve siphoned the life from the already weak orc, fuelling both itself and its twin in the frost energy, until there was no more life to leech. Then, the energies combined to raise him.

‘Is there something wrong with him, Warden?’ Malakai asked, eyes glued to the undead and half drawing his blade.

‘I’m just thinking,’ I said.

The sword quietly returned into its scabbard.

I called into my palm the shard my soldier had retrieved the night before.

[Undead caster, lvl 7 - Core Status: inactive]

That Caster’s core had survived the battle was a surprise since the connection I had with the undead had vanished, but the status baffled me.

My undead being destroyed wasn’t new. Even in my previous life it could be done. The degree of firepower required for the task varied with the rank of the undead, and to kill my strongest soldiers their necronite phylacteries must be shattered on a subatomic-level. But it was possible.

However, anything short of annihilation would see them come back with but a touch of mana. I thought the frozen cores similar in nature.

So why are you inactive?

Sunlight reflected as I rolled the shard between my fingers. Had something inside the core broken…or was it a product of my abilities? Spending skill points unlocked skills. That meant my undead’s capacity for regeneration could be locked until I gained a skill that facilitated it.

Or maybe it wasn’t and I was missing something. Based on what Lucian had explained, I assumed my powers were largely limited by what the "game system" (though I didn't think this was a game) granted me. But how true was that? What could I do and not do, outside of the system?

I glanced at the crystal, then at the undead, and an idea formed in my head.

‘Malakai. You should step back.’

He did so and watched me approach the undead without a word. In one hand I held Caster’s core. The other I placed on the shaman’s chest. I searched for the core of death and cold within, and lined up Caster’s shard.

If I’m right…

Miasma flowed, dead skin parted like water before a rock, and Caster’s core sung as I pushed it into the undead’s chest. The corpse shook, then his head reared back and a blue light beam fired from his mouth.

[Timed Hidden Quest Completed: Begin an Undead Assimilation]

{Skill points awarded: 3}

[Cores required: 1/5]

[Do you want to continue the assimilation?]

Malakai gasped. ‘Warden, what’s…’

I smiled. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ I said, and produced more cores.