Duncan rushed to Elland’s shop down the Main street and noticed a peculiar phenomenon when he used his full power. It seemed to him as if the world around him slowed down. Not by much but there was a noticeable difference.
Getting to Elland’s shop took less time than ever before and he rushed in forgetting his new state of power with the chimes violently chiming.
Elland came rushing from the workshop.
“Morning Duncan. What’s with the rush?” he asked when he saw the chimes still violently bouncing.
Duncan felt embarrassed, “Morning. Sorry. I upgraded my stats and I am not used to them yet.”
“How much have you upgraded if there is such a big difference?” Elland asked in shock while the chimes slowly stopped making noise.
Duncan checked his stats but he could not remember the exact numbers he spread his hands and replied, “Around 30 stats in the physical department.”
“What?” Elland replied with a raised voice in shock, before he continued, “You leveled up six times recently? What level are you now?”
“I am level 31. I have raised my level in the mine but–” Duncan stopped himself. Wazsh warned him not to talk about too many details of his class to anyone.
“Be careful not to hurt anyone until you learn how to control your body,” Elland replied, shaking his head.
Duncan nodded, “I will. Wazsh said you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. One of the books you gave me explains the origin of the crypt in the mine. It was a rogue elven necromancer that set it up. Which is quite the unusual feat,” Elland explained.
“What do you mean?” Duncan asked.
“We, the elves, are proud of being in tune with life, light, and nature magic so studying death and dark magic goes against everything we traditionally stand for. What you found is a journal of an apprentice explaining that his master saw the other races encroaching on our territories with far greater numbers than the elves could handle and decided to use death and dark magic to build an army to repel them,” Elland explained.
“What happened? Duncan asked.
“He succeeded in repelling the humans and orc armies using their corpses as soldiers to do his bidding before he was slain by the elves when he tried to make himself their king. His army crumbled when the central leading figure was destroyed and his apprentices hid in the underground research lab until they all died from old age,” Elland stated, shaking his head.
“How did you elves kill someone so powerful who could repel entire armies?” Duncan asked, shocked at the revelation.
Elland gave him a bitter smile, “How else? Assassination. The undead may be good against an army but are quite useless against highly skilled individuals. All it took was an assassin getting close enough to kill the Necromancer and the armies crumbled without guidance. The elves made several peace treaties with the humans who didn’t know what was happening at the time. Together they took care of the Orc menace and we lived together happily ever after. So, in fact, we have a lot to be thankful for, regarding this unknown Necromancer.
“Alright. But why was this such urgent news?” Duncan asked.
Elland breathed in deeply before he replied, “I think the Mayor or someone she is working for came to this knowledge and is building an army of undead.”
Duncan frowned, “How did you come up with this idea?”
“When you were gone I went to the barracks and talked to Petris and Fenris. They told me about the other door. Also about the Zombies,” Elland replied.
“What about the door and Zombies?” Duncan asked because he did not get a connection.
“The door was probably made by Bolgar and is the same one as the one covering the mine with inscriptions against the undead. You and Fenris could confirm that later. The crucial fact is the Zombies.” Eland explained.
Duncan first nodded then shook his head and replied, “I don’t get what crucial meaning the Zombies hold for you.”
“Zombies don’t live nearly as long as how old the journal is and when in our elven history this occurred. I mean last; they are not alive, since they are undead. This all happened more than two thousand years ago. They would all be either Ghouls of very high levels, something worse than Ghouls or dust by now. There is just no way for them to last this long as Zombies. They must have been made less than 150 years ago,” Elland explained.
“Are you sure about that?” Duncan asked.
“I am pretty sure. Well, according to the books you managed to find, Zombies start at very low levels below level 10 and their death magic slowly dissipates if they don’t level up. They would return to being corpses in less than 100 years. Which brings me to another assumption,” Elland replied.
Duncan nodded, before he asked, “Spill it. What other things have you discovered?”
There was a smug expression on Elland’s face as he continued, “After talking to the guards about the kobold and goblin traders they told me they have never seen the wares that come into the town. They are always covered and taken care of by the Mayor’s men. I am guessing it’s the main ingredient for making Zombies.”
Duncan frowned, “What would that be?”
“You need me to spell it out?” Elland asked exasperated.
Duncan felt embarrassed but still nodded.
“The main ingredient is fresh corpses. Well, the fresher the better. The matrix of the soul of the living dissipates within a month of death. That being the case, the level of the created Zombie is affected. The fresher and higher leveled corpse you get for the process the less time you need to level it up to a Ghoul,” Elland explained.
Duncan scratched his head, “So you are saying the kobolds and goblins are robbing graves and delivering dead bodies?”
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“Possibly. They could also attack caravans, and villages or pillage the battlefields of warring counties. There are always abundant fresh sources of corpses to find here,” Elland explained waiting for Duncan to nod.
“So, what do you suggest we do?” Duncan asked.
“I suggest you stick with Fenris’ plan and level up the guards and then put a stop to the Mayor’s plans here before finding her accomplices or master. You have people here who trust you and will support you if you choose to help us. I know this is not your fight,” Elland replied.
“You think she has a master?” Duncan asked.
Elland nodded, “I doubt an operation in this small village would be enough to fuel the appetite of a race so aggressive as Wazsh stated yesterday.”
“What do you mean?” Duncan pretended to not understand.
“You know, Duncan, that I have not been cooped up in this small village all my life. I have traveled far and wide with my master before I came here. I have never seen a Gormian or a Mahondrian for that matter before Wazsh came here. Well, Gormians have distinct features and would be easy to recognize judging from Wazsh. I don’t know where they are from but I am afraid they came from far away. There must be some kind of history between their people judging by the way Wazsh reacted. I doubt something that could upset Wazsh so much would be at the level of a small village like this one,” Elland explained.
“So, you think she is working for someone?” Duncan asked.
“Yes and I doubt she is the only one. I am guessing they are using many small villages such as this one to create armies of undead to strike at an opportune moment. We can only stop her here for now and then alert the Mayors of other villages and towns,” Elland explained.
Duncan sighed. “What have I gotten myself into?” he mumbled.
“So far nothing, really. You still have the option to abandon us and go your own way,” Elland said, looking for a reaction from Duncan.
“Yeah, I mean no. I would… never do that,” Duncan replied not feeling sure if that was the right thing to do. He was weak even compared to the guards, not to mention Mayor’s men.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Elland asked, seeing the turmoil in Duncan’s eyes.
Duncan was quiet for a while before he replied, “Give me your books and show me any skills you have that you haven’t already. Do you know a weapon skill?”
“I will loan you all the books that I have but I don’t know how that will help you. I am quite proficient with the staff but it will take you a while to learn that,” Eland replied.
“Do you have a backyard?” Duncan asked.
Elland nodded. “Yes. I grow my herbs there. Why?”
“Take your staff and let me see your techniques,” Duncan said and urged Elland to move outside.
They quickly went through the workshop and the preparatory room to the outside where Duncan could see a garden after a stretch of grass.
“Alright. Here we are but I don’t see a point in this,” Elland replied and took what looked like a bamboo stick from his inventory. It was about 2 meters in length and 3 centimeters thick.
“Just do your routine training with the staff. You must have one, right?” Duncan asked.
Elland frowned and started spinning the staff around. Duncan had already activated [ Observe ] and followed every minute movement. Every now and then Elland would hit an imaginary foe with graceful fluid movements before he stopped.
“Are we done here?” Elland asked as he breathed out.
“No. Do it again,” Duncan replied.
Elland frowned but did it nonetheless. This time he did it a bit faster.
“Again!” Duncan stated just as Elland tried to ask for leave.
“What are we doing?” he asked.
“I am learning your staff art. You said you would help with anything,” Duncan explained.
Elland frowned again and repeated the movements making more explosive jabs at the imaginary enemy. After another 5 minutes of pole dancing, he stopped.
“Again?” Elland asked
“Just two more times,” Duncan replied.
Elland shook his head and took off his jacket. He became sweaty from the movement even though it was quite chilly in the morning. He did another pole dance, bashing heads, and breaking the legs and arms of imaginary foes before he stopped.
He looked at Duncan and nodded. He breathed out and in and started his routine this time with the most vigor. He jumped high in the air bringing the pole onto the imaginary foe like a hammer from the heavens. He hit the grass so hard that an imprint of the staff formed on it and the staff bent, before jumping back and sliding the pole through his hand to hit an imaginary foe in the head. He pulled it back forward and swirled it around as if to fend off a crowd of foes.
As he finished he breathed out and came towards Duncan who was checking his [LOG].
“Happy now?” he asked.
“Very,” Duncan replied.
Elland shook his head. “What other purpose could this have than to make me sweat so early in the morning?”
“Give me your staff!” Duncan replied.
Elland frowned but threw the staff at him. Duncan was surprised by the weight as he caught it.
“This is no normal wood?” he asked.
Elland shook his head, “It’s called Ironwood. It’s heavier and sturdier than even a steel staff of this thickness.”
Duncan nodded before he imitated the routine Elland showed him a moment before. He was not quite as fast as Elland or fluid but he was far from the novice level he should be at. Elland watched with his mouth agape as all the elements of his routine were shown one by one.
“How?” he muttered at the end.
“I have a class that can do that. I mentioned this a few days ago,” Duncan replied.
Elland nodded in shock before asking, “So you can learn anything this fast?”
“Up to level five. Yes,” Duncan decided to share a bit more.
“I see. So with Alchemy?” Elland asked.
Duncan nodded.
Elland thought about how this world was unfair before asking, “Anything else you want to share?”
Duncan thought about it and decided to spill the main thing, “I get stats from learning skills.”
Elland’s eyes grew wide as he heard that. He shook his head in disbelief before asking for confirmation, “Stats from skills? Besides stats from level-ups?”
“Yes. Although I only get one stat per level up as a penalty,” Duncan confirmed.
“How many did you get now?” Elland asked.
“Let me check. I was checking it out when you interrupted me,” Duncan replied looking at Elland who nodded for him to continue.
“I have gotten a skill called Pole weapon mastery from you,” Duncan replied.
“Yes. That is my skill also,” Eland confirmed.
“The bonus stats it gives me are in Strength, Dexterity, and Agility. For five levels it would be 1.5 in each,” Duncan explained what he saw in the [ LOG ].
[ You have Learned Pole weapons mastery Level 5. ]
Strength +0.5
Dexterity +0.5
Agility +0.5
Elland shook his head before saying, “That’s basically cheating. I am just glad you are on our side.”
Duncan smiled before saying, “Now, loan me your books.”