Words appeared in Ed’s mind, legible but intangible. Ed was sharing his mind with some other presence, and it spoke to him as if using his own thoughts.
[Greetings, Netheryn. Please select a specialization before continuing.]
What the hell? Ed clasped his head in his hands, struggling against this intruder. He immediately thought back to Lila possessed by Somnia. He wouldn’t let Mortem do the same to him.
“We call it the System,” Mortem said. “It hails from long gone pasts and distant futures.”
“That makes no sense. Get this thing out of my head,” Ed snapped.
Mortem let out a small laugh. “One day you will realize the foolishness of that request. By happenstance, you are being offered the greatest opportunity of your entire bloodline. Your ancestors lived and died for you to be here, now.”
Ed ignored the god’s pompous preaching. He fought back against the presence in his mind.
Get out of my head!
[Please select a specialization before continuing.]
GET OUT OF MY HEAD! NOW!
[Please select a specialization before continuing.]
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD” Ed shouted aloud.
[Please select a specialization before continuing.]
A heavy force weighed down on Ed, as if gravity had gotten stronger. Mortem’s eyes flickered with intensity as he stared at Ed.
“Fool, you waste a god’s time. Would you rather I return you to the Nether, to the death fate Somnia had envisioned for you?” Mortem’s voice reverberated in Ed’s skull like thunder.
“Fine,” Ed muttered.
What are the specializations?
[Processing request…]
[Initializing system interface…]
[Displaying specialization information:
Source: Mortem, God of Death
Specialization Options:
1. Necrolyte: Summoners who can conjure temporary thralls to fight for them and do their bidding.
2. Witherlord: Sorcerers who specialize in decay and deterioration, weakening their foes over time and corroding their defenses.
3. Reaper: Warriors who excel in close combat, utilizing scythes and spiritual shields to harvest the souls of their enemies.]
“I don’t know what any of this means,” Ed said in utter confusion.
[A Netheryn is aligned with one god, gaining access to a branch of their power, called a Source. Each source has specializations that allow the Netheryn to specialize their path of progression.]
“What if I wanted to summon thralls and be a warrior?” Ed asked.
[Such power would exceed the limitations of what a mortal form is capable of.]
Ed considered his options. He could just die here, be done with this charade and not be a plaything of the gods. He saw what had happened to his wife at the hands of Somnia. If she wasn’t tricked, if she really was in service to an ancient goddess… and that was the result? That twisted and disturbing form she had taken on. That wasn’t Lila. There was no way she would have agreed to any of it.
Mortem may think him a fool, but he wasn’t foolish enough to take all of this at face value. He was sure there was some kind of catch.
But Ed couldn’t just roll over and die. Lila needed him. If she was possessed by a god, he would need a god’s power to save her. So, he resolved to go along with this insanity. He would accept Mortem’s offer and become his thrall.
“Tell me more about the Necrolyte,” Ed prompted the System.
[The Necrolyte conjures thralls from a variety of spiritual resources. The thrall is under the complete control of its masters for the duration of its lifetime. There are endless combinations of resources with which to summon thralls. A Necrolyte will experiment as their power advances, gathering runes and glyphs to empower their summoning capabilities.]
“What are runes and glyphs?” Ed asked. The summoning option sounded enticing to him. Being able to fight without putting himself in immediate danger was promising. He was physically fit enough, but he was never much of a fighter.
[Runes: A required element of all Netheryn abilities. When paired with a Source, allows for the creation of a spell. While the source dictates the type of power, the rune dictates the function and application of that power.]
[Glyphs: An optional addition to a spell, generally with a more expensive insight cost. Glyphs add additional effects to spells, usually with more variable impactful effects than runes.]
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Ed’s interest was truly piqued now. “And what is Insight?”
[Insight: The cost of a spell. The Netheryn will gain insight naturally as they progress and become stronger. Every rune and glyph have an associated insight cost. A Netheryn cannot exceed their maximum insight.]
Ed knew he wasn’t interested in the Reaper option. He had no intention of leaving this place, returning to his own world to start “harvesting souls”. Whatever that meant.
He wasn’t naïve and was sure this Netheryn business was somehow involved with what happened to his wife. For all Ed knew, Lila was a Netheryn, although the thought seemed so ridiculous in his mind.
She was hiding so much from me…
Ed considered the Witherlord options. Decay and deterioration and corrosion all sounded like nasty business. He had felt like the purple sand was ripping his flesh apart from the inside out. He wouldn’t want to inflict anything remotely similar to that on another human if he could help it.
The more he pondered it, the more Necrolyte seemed to be the obvious choice. It would keep him safe and allow him to apparently summon his own form of custom thralls. So, if he ever had to fight, he could do so from a distance. Plus having a summon had plenty of practical uses outside of combat, he figured.
The lumie had been with him a matter of an hour and it had already saved his life. Maybe more so, as Ed thought about it. The lumie saved him from a fate possibly worse than death. Who knew what Somnia had in store for those poor souls at the dinner.
The lumie let out a gentle trill in response, as if it could sense Ed’s appreciation. He gave it a pat on the head in turn.
“Alright, I am going with the Necrolyte option,” Ed proclaimed.
“Hmmm,” Mortem mumbled, shuffling beside Ed.
Ed had no idea if that was a positive or negative reaction.
[Initializing Necrolyte specialization…]
[Assembling class and status information…]
[You have been granted 10 status points for selecting a specialization. These points are allocated automatically, based on your selection.]
[Displaying status menu:]
Name: Eddarion Key
Netheryn Class: Initiate
Level: 1
Experience: 0 / 100
Faction: None
Stat Points Available: 0
Health: 80 / 80
Sanity: 90 / 90
Insight: 0/2
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 2
Resistance: 1
Wisdom: 3
Faith: 1
Perception: 2
Equipped Spells: None
Ed struggled to make sense of anything the System showed him.
“What does any of this mean?” he asked.
[Specify which parameter you want further information on.]
“What does strength mean? Are you telling me I have a rating of one for strength?” Ed asked incredulously. He was much stronger than the average royal in Telmaris, he knew that much. They’d have a negative score for strength if that was the case.
[Strength is a measure of a Netheryn’s physical power. It influences the ability to wield and equip certain types of armor and weaponry and to cast certain spells.]
So, it wasn’t an absolute rating of his strength as a human, but as a Netheryn? That made a bit more sense.
“Can you describe the rest of the stats for me?” Ed asked.
[Dexterity is a measure of agility, reflexes, and coordination. It influences the ability to wield certain types of equipment, cast spells, and the ability to perform precise actions such as –]
“Enough.” Mortem’s voice cut through Ed’s mind, deep and rumbling with a commanding tone. It was as if Mortem himself replaced the presence of the System in Ed’s mind.
“You can do this once you leave my realm. We have precious little time. Let us proceed with crafting a spell.”
Ed considered the god’s words. “You keep mentioning that we have little time. What do you mean by that?”
Mortem let out what sounded like an exasperated sigh, if ancient skeletal gods could sigh. “My power in the Nether is thin, given my connection to death. The other gods can move here freely, but I expend much of my power in the darkest reaches of the Nether.”
“And that’s where I was before the lumie saved me?” Ed asked with a shiver.
“Precisely.”
Mortem produced a small stone in his hand, extending it towards Ed.
“This is a rune for summoning, your most basic spell as a Necrolyte. Use it to summon a thrall.”
Ed took the rune, his fingers brushing against Mortem’s body hand as he did. He expected a chill to run through his body, or some unimaginable presence to force its way into his mind as he physically touched the god of death.
To his surprise, nothing happened. It just felt like bones.
The rune was small, about the size of his thumb. There were small carvings on it that he couldn’t recognize. The inscriptions lit up with white light in Ed’s hand, causing the stone to warm. In seconds, the light died back down, and the stone was blank.
[Rune received:
Name: Summon Rune
Description: Summon a thrall based on the essences offered. No essences will result in a default thrall, based on the Netheryn’s source.
Insight Cost: 1]
Ed focused, trying to conjure his thrall as Mortem commanded. Nothing happened.
“What am I doing wrong?” he asked.
A rune must be inserted into a spell to be functional.
“Let’s create a spell then.”
[Initializing spell creation…]
[Source: Mortem, God of Death
Available Runes: Summon
Available Glyphs: None
Insight: 0/2]
Ed conjured up the image of the summon rune in his mind. The inscriptions from the stone entered his thoughts. He visualized them as they merged with the white flame of Mortem in his mind. Source and rune bonded, creating a new spell.
[New spell acquired!]
[Name: Summon Skeleton
Description: Summon a skeletal thrall, imbued with the power of the god of death. Additional resources can be offered while casting this spell, such as essences, equipment, or items. The thrall will survive for one hour, or until its health is depleted.
Cost: 10 Sanity]
While he was excited to have a new spell, Ed was concerned about the cost. Losing sanity to summon a thrall sounded unpleasant. What if he had multiple spells he wanted to use? Did it mean he would go insane?
“What does the System mean by sanity?” Ed asked Mortem.
“Sanity is the mental bridge between your world and the nether. As a Netheryn, you will draw on my power from this realm where we can communicate. But crossing the line between realms is taxing. Abuse it and you will lose yourself to the nether, as many have before you.”
“That sounds dire,” Ed said. He was decidedly less excited about his powers now, given the cost.
“Responsible use of your powers will alleviate such risk,” Mortem replied. “There are many ways to restore sanity, which the System can inform you of at a later time.”
Ed had much to learn about his powers. It was both enticing and worrisome.
“Now, summon your thrall. It’s time to test your newfound power.”