Vitmori POV

In the mountain below my chamber, my focus comes over to the more imposing of the armored holy knights escorting the caravan. Likely the only reason he went down the way he did was due to the sheer fact he was overwhelmed by the bulk of the remaining zombies after the rest of his fourteen buddies were cut down by my zombies, Basti, Oururu, Reonim, and Reyvyre.

Now, I don't have to bring him back to life like the others, nor do I even have the mana to try and drag his soul back into his corpse. However, I do want to test something out.

As far as I've seen, naming and titling someone dramatically affects the physical form of the being targeted by my intent. Yet this has happened only after I brought the soul back into the body, with the one current exception to my studies being Zasutir, who never died in the first place.

Yet as I watch this armored corpse, I feel compelled to do something different than before. Instead of just mutating the corpse into a mana zombie like the others, I want to try to give this one intelligence… Rather, the word that comes to mind is Ego.

I'm not exactly flush with mana right now, though, especially after laying out the stone foundations for the longhouse with Zasutir earlier. But looking over my core, I notice a considerable amount of glimmering within the green gem, which is most likely the byproduct of the vital energy coming thanks to the hunting of Jack's crewbirds. With this much, I can probably grant a name but not do much else.

Turning my gaze to the armored corpse, I'm still unsure what I expect to happen, but I commit anyway.

'Rise up, my knight… In life, you were scum who lashed out at innocents and rounded up people to sell due to sick and twisted values and morals. In death, you shall serve to save and protect those you once scorned. Whereas now you shall tear down and destroy those who would trample upon the lives of others for the mere sake of profit or twisted religious dogma. I name you Dread; stand and present yourself.' With my speech done and the name bestowed, I feel the mana pour out from my core until I'm left with a faint twinkling within me.

However, the knight before me begins to shudder and convulse. Yet when he stops, he begins to stand slowly with intent. Standing tall with a rigidly disciplined posture, he looks ahead and then around before looking up to where my core currently rests. His eyes which should've been completely hidden within the room's darkness, and the cover of his helmet now glow with a faint yet distinct green hue.

Dread POV

'I… I exist. As if a switch has been flipped, where once there was nothing, I am now here.' The knight takes a moment to consider his surroundings; it's dark, empty, and lifeless. Yet energy seems to permeate through the air. After a few moments, his gaze wanders before looking at the source of this energy, and at that moment, he knows it to be his creator.

Dropping down to one knee, he lowers his head with reverence. "Creator…" His voice rumbles out with a rough yet alluring cadence. "I give my thanks to you for willing me into existence. I know I am not alive, yet I am not dead either. Even though I now exist in this limbo, I swear to serve in your name." Even though his creator has not spoken to him yet, he feels the name imprinted on his very being. "Vitmori… This Dread shall be your blade." With that, he looks back to where he can sense his creator and gazes intensely.

Vitmori POV

Well then… I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that. From what I can feel coming off of Dread, the knight that once inhabited that body is not the being that's currently in that body. I wonder how I knew to do this, or how I even knew this would work, whatever this is anyways.

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Looking closer, I check for his manaheart, yet it does not glow or pulse. Instead, besides his heart is a ball of energy. It's not precisely mana anymore, but it feels like vital energy, the same kind of energy that I absorb when my animals and zombies kill others. The light is frankly weak and not very impressive, but considering how little energy I poured into him, I shouldn't have expected much.

Speaking up, I pull the sword and shield I got from this particular knight and set it down before Dread. 'I appreciate the vow you gave into my service. However, you should know this; currently, you are the least of my servants. For now, until I can give you more power, I want you to get used to your body. The form you currently inhabit is known as a knight, a battlemaster who wields both magic and the blade with equal might. Train and discover the muscle memory within this body until you are comfortable with the sword and shield before you. Find the stances he knew, familiarize yourself with the swings and blocks he trained with, and master your new body.' Phew, that sounds like a good beginner's step for him to focus on until I can flesh him out more.

Dread eagerly takes up the sword and shield, sheathing the blade while holding the shield in his off hand. He then clangs his right hand against his chest in the form of a salute. "As you will, Creator Vitmori, I shall strive to master myself as you ordered." With that, he drew the blade and slowly got into a stance before beginning with the simple vertical slice.

Jack POV

"Hey, looks like we're coming up on the camp now." He called back down Basti, who rumbled out a low meow in response.

Along the way, it seems the stress of this ordeal had gotten to Aug, and she has since fallen asleep against Basti's back. She was dozing soundly while clutching the black-furred cub close, much to his dismay. Though it was better in this girl's embrace rather than facing his mother after the stunt he pulled today. So in the end, he allowed it to happen despite his discomfort.

Jack flitted down beside the cub and let out a chirping snicker as he watched him, now sitting on Basti's back during the last stretch of the trek. "So… Kitty… How's the world outside the cave?" He teased mischievously.

The cub mewls a bit and huffs, his discomfort under the weight of the surprisingly dense little girl getting to him.

"Still, it was pretty ballsy of you to sneak out in Basti's shadow… Though I suppose if you're mature enough to make it out here on your own, then it might be time to let the other cubs come to play." Jack mused, looking over to the back of Basti's head as she padded along.

Basti, for her part, just chuffs with pride. Despite being upset about the cub's recklessness, she couldn't help but be impressed with her little runt. However, she's still unsure about bringing all her cubs away from the safety of Vitmori's chamber, rumbling out a soft chatter of consideration.

Jack merely shrugs his wings before winking at the cub. Now hopping forward along Basti's back to perch on her head, much to her annoyance, she has to let it happen lest she knocks the sleeping girl off her back. "Now, now, Basti, you can't keep your cubs cooped up forever. The sooner you expose them to the world, the sooner they'll grow and find their places in it." He puffs up his feathers for a moment and settles in again. "I mean, look at me, my mom kicked me out the moment I could fly, and I turned out alright." He mused confidently.

Both mother and cub agreed as they murred with uncertainty at Jack's statement.

"Oi, I take offense to that." Jack said indignantly as he pecked at some fur on her ear before flitting away when she twitched in response.

Before long, they were in view of the camp. One of the members spotted Basti and nearly shat themselves before remembering who and what she was. That's when they spotted Aug on Basti's back, and they hurried off. "Silvia, it's Aug; she's back!"

Aug stirred at the shouting, rubbing at her eyes and sitting up. The cub takes the opportunity to wriggle away and hop down off Basti's back before ducking away in her shadow. Basti slows to a stop once she's in the camp proper, Silvia running as fast as her short legs can take her. "Aug!" She cries out as her building anxiety finally bubbles over as relief.

Now fully awake, Aug sees her mother, and instantly a downpour of tears starts streaming down her face. "Momma!" She cries out, much to the surprise of the rest of the camp, who knows her to be a notably silent girl. Aug pushes off Basti and falls into her mother's arms as the two embrace, tears running down their eyes while Aug wails against her. Sobbing miserably as the stress of what happened to her comes spilling out.

The two ladies are left to each other's company as Zasutir approaches Vitmori's vassals. Despite being informed of the events that transpired, he couldn't help but be surprised by the sight of what was once a very dead sparrow before him, alive, bigger, and clearly more powerful than before. "Thank you, both of you, for bringing Aug back." Zasutir said respectfully and lowered his head.

Basti simply murred in response, whereas Jack spoke up. "It was no problem, we were merely doing as Vitmori told us." He said, downplaying the whole thing.

Zasutir merely smiles at the bird. "Oh really now, and here I was told that a brave and powerful bird single-handedly saved this little girl. I believe his name was Jack?"

Jack sort of poofs up his feathers, his ego being sufficiently scratched. "That's Captain… Captain Jack the Sparrow, at your service." He said as he lowered his head, holding one wing out while the other wing was out before standing up properly once more.

At this, Silvia looks over at Jack, her eyes red and puffy from her tears. "Thank you, Captain Jack, for saving my precious little girl."

At that, Jack looks a bit more bashful. "It was no problem, seriously. Girlie was a good kid. She was obviously raised right." He chirped out with a flutter of his wings.

But before he could continue deflecting, Aug spoke up through her whimpering as she looked at Jack. "Thank you, Jackie.." With that, she calms some more and clings to Silvia as the woman scoops her up and walks off.

Jack could feel a warmth pounding in his chest as he looked away. "Yeah yeah, you're welcome, kiddo." He murmured softly under his breath, and with that, he dismissed himself and flew off into the treeline once more.