They both began laughing.
I pondered on what they were saying. Sometimes I forget just how smart they are. It was true, I had been putting off telling them about who I was in my life before. I wanted them to keep their high opinion of me, not to think of me as some self destructive loser. I knew I would have to have that conversation at some point but I wanted to wait as long as I could.
I chose my moment, walked over and sat down next to them. Lina sat in my lap and Leera took her usual spot at my side. As I cuddled them both I realized just how badly things could have gone if I were even a little later in returning. They almost certainly would have ended up in a confrontation with the necromancers and I could have lost them both permanently body and soul.
Restoring Bob has just risen up my list of stuff to do, then we need a new place. The cave has seen too many visitors over the past few days and I can't exactly feel safe leaving them here.
I summarized the events of the night and pointed out the sha'dwarg corpse. I felt no reason to give them all the gory details about just how close it came to killing me.
They walked over to it and marveled at it. In many ways it was even more impressive than the windigo. It wasn't as wide as it was long but It's shoulders filled two thirds of the cave entrance.
"Alright." I told them "It's time to bring Bob back!"
Lina clapped her hands and Leera just smiled.
I decided to try and be thorough here.
I closed my eyes.
Mors bring up a list of transferable skills, abilities and magic that I could give to Bob.
Skills:
Sit: When a sha'dwarg is young it's parents often teach them this skill to help in the distribution of food. If offered a treat, the sha'dwarg may sit and wait patiently to receive it.
Parts and Abilities:
Hybrid eyes: Your eyes grant the abilities of Life sense, Night sight and Coerce lesser lifeform.
Hybrid nose: Your nose has a profound sense of smell. It is extra sensitive to the smell of death.
Lungs of the windigo: Enables continuous breathing, Mana infusion and fog generation.
Heart of mana regeneration: You will now regenerate mana at a rate proportional to your heart size per hour.
Hybrid stomach: Your stomach is automatically used as storage to passively heal any injuries. It can also convert what it contains, including soul fragments into mana thereby creating a waste free system.
Mana gathering:
Your hair passively gathers mana from the world around you.
Loins of a satyr: Grants ability Perversion.
Magic: N/A
Damn, I don't have any spells to give Bob.
"Mors, I know I can copy languages. Is there a reason why I can't copy spells?" I asked.
"Languages are an algorithm. All that is needed is a conversion of intentions from the native language to the intended language. If something does not have a language of it's own, it cannot be taught. Spells are also an algorithm, but there is another aspect to them which is soul affinity. Without extensive practice or an inborn talent the soul cannot be taught. When transferring from a soul, all relevant parts are transferred. However an error occurs when attempting to copy a spell as it has nothing to anchor it to the soul without practical knowledge." She responded.
"Doesn't Bob have the dark affinity? I learned some of my spells from his soul didn't I?" I asked.
"Yes he does, but his chances of relearning it are not high without tutelage." She responded.
"If we try, what will happen?" I asked.
"There stands a high chance that he will lose his affinity and that you will lose the spell. It would be better to try to reteach him rather than trying to copy over a spell." She answered.
"Why are the chances so low? More details please, I'm not quite understanding." I asked.
"When attempting to copy magic I must re-establish the bonds between the spell and the soul, meaning that I would have to split the bonds between you and him. That weakens your bonds to the spell while trying to create the bonds for him. The spell must then be split in half and the remaining parts must be recreated using souls. During that time it may be rejected as incomplete before the new parts are created leaving you without a spell and him with a damaged bond to that magic type. It gets easier if they have already established their own bonds to a spell as it takes less time to adhere and the chance of rejection is lower." She answered.
That's a lot to take in.
"What about fully transferring a spell from me to him rather than copying?" I asked.
"You may do that, but transferring from yourself can still be riskier than simply transferring from another soul. It's like trying to perform your own root canal. I don't advise it but it can be done. Basically you may forget parts of the spell during transfer and impart an incomplete spell which is then subject to rejection." She responded.
Huh, I guess it's like walking to the fridge opening the door and then forgetting what you went there for.
"Thank you for the explanation Mors. You did great!" I said.
I figure she could use a compliment after all that. She always fullfills all my requests to a T.
Mors beamed at me and spoke. "Did you have anything else Master?"
"Sure do, bring up a complete list of what Bob currently has." I replied.
Skills:
Stalking
Hunting level 2
Hide
Fishing
Foraging
Perversion
Woah, wait a minute, why does Bob have perversion as a skill? I thought that was an ability?
"Mors, any Ideas as to how perversion is one of Bob's skills?" I asked Mors.
She appeared and began explaining while looking uncomfortable. "Skills are learned. Bob must have done some questionable things fairly frequently to have gained it as a skill."
I know he never touched Lina... Oh god, the rodents. This is why you shouldn't go snooping around someone's soul I suppose. Aw, he and Lina ate them afterwards. Until this point I didn't it was possible to mentally dry heave.
"Mors, lets see the rest, including his affinities." I commanded
Soul affinities:
Dark: Complete
Primal: Innate
Infernal: Innate
Magic:
???: ???
Wow, his dark affinity is at complete, Bob must have been one bad dude. Odd, Bob seems to have some magic, or at least the start of some. I wonder what this will become, with his personality there's no telling. He has two Innates, I need more clarification.
"Mors, why does he have innate affinities and what does that mean?" I asked.
"These are magics that are still tied to his soul, however he hasn't met the criteria for their activations yet. Primal is ancient and naturally occurring, like the windigo. It doesn't require gestures or chants to activate. Infernal is linked to the infernal plane, you would consider it demonic. It often involves self scarification and long summoning rituals that include sacrifices and sex." She replied.
The more I find out about Bob, the more I worry about him, and I'm about to make him a body that is basically a killing machine. So far he hasn't been anything but loyal to me, even after I first spoke to him, he told me to convert him to mana. If nothing else can be said for him, it is that he is not selfish. I trust the crazy bastard and I don't know why, it's only a feeling on my part but I think that Bob would have my back even if it cost him everything. I will do all that I can to foster his growth and make him stronger and happier.
I brought up Bob's soul and selected talk.
Bob's small winged figure showed up before me glowing a spectral green.
"Hey Bob!" I said.
To spite everything I had found out about him I really missed him.
"Hey there Boss!" he said as he smiled his sharp toothed grin.
"Alright, I've got one windigo, one and a quarter monstrous bears and one sha'dwarg corpse waiting for you, any preferences?" I as
ked.
"I've had some time to think on it and..." Bob stared at Mors for a moment before continuing "That fairy you made really gets to me." Bob's spectral crotch seemed to grow.
"Dammit Bob, this isn't the time or place for that. I have no idea how I would even clean spectral jizz from my mind." I said in a serious tone.
"Alright, alright Boss. I've thought about it and I've decided. I want two penises, and one vagina." He said while sucking on a finger and thrusting his butt out at me in a girly pose.
Leave it to Bob to render me speechless.
"You son of a bitch, I'm being serious here. What do you want?" I asked.
"I trust your creativity Boss. I just want to rend your enemies and rape their corpses while their families watch." He said while his eyes glazed over as if imagining it. He spoke again while exhaling slowly. "Yeah, that would be hot."
Have I neglected Bob? Has his dementia grown in this solitude or am I just seeing more of my friend than I want to.
"The windigo has killed me once and the sha'dwarg basically handed me my ass. You'll be able to kill pretty much whoever you want to and I'll even give you alone time with the corpses if you need it." I said while looking at him knowingly.
"Aww, Boss, I just might fall for you yet." He said while striking another entirely inappropriate pose. I've now seen more than I care to of Bob's private parts.
Now that I had seen what was in Bob's soul I realized he was like your creepy uncle's creepy uncle. He had an overbearing honesty that was like the voice we suppress in the backs of our minds. He was Bob, unapologetically so. I briefly thought about making Bob's new body a giant honey badger.
"Alright Bob, I won't judge you. I'll make sure you like what I create for you." I said with a hint of concern in my voice.
Bob nodded.
I worried that he might end up traumatizing everyone. I definitely should have checked in with him every now and then. He seems overly cognitive of the passage of time in soul form. I wondered if that was a side effect of his left over memories from being a torch or just his normal personality.
"I'll see you on the other side Bob." I said
Bob did an uncharacteristically refined bow as if he were a proper gentleman.
I opened my my eyes.
In my peripheral vision Leera was holding Lina in her lap and stroking her hair softly as they watched me.
I had to drag the parts outside the cave, as I was sure he would get too big to get out comfortably by the time I was done.
I initiated fleshcrafting.
I used the windigo as a core. I added the rear legs of the monstrous bear. I shaped the back paws into hooves like a mountain goat would have. I blended in the sha'dwarg, giving it the overall shape of a giant wolf. I shaped the horns into something more usable curving them back to protect the sides of his skull and placing the point forward still enabling him to gore enemies.
I placed six openings on his chest and connected them to the lungs. I knew it would be inconvenient if they were open at all times so I gave them skin and muscle allowing Bob to open and close them as he pleased. He now had both the lungs from the windigo and the sha'dwarg. He should be able to produce an astonishing amount of fog.
I added the mouth and nose of the sha'dwarg over the face of the windigo and blended both heads together giving him a slightly shorter muzzle. To compensate for that I lengthened the teeth and added an traditional row.
I converted the front paws into more of a hand shape, giving each finger full flexibility while keeping the pads to cushion impact. I added a thumb and made certain that it did not get in the way when he ran. He would never type above ten words per minute now, but in this world he wouldn't have to.
Bob's chest was huge after merging the windigo and sha'dwarg so I was able to make him a large heart with a huge amount of mana regen. I went to work layering on the additional muscle of the monstrous bear. I reinforced the tendons in his hind legs and made them as strong as I could.
I added Bob's requested parts. Before I examined his soul I would have thought he was kidding, but now I wasn't sure. You would have to be pretty messed up to gain perversion as a skill. Just what Bob was going to use these on I had no clue. Oh gross, I just realized why he wanted one of each. But why the extra one?
I decided to stop thinking about that... Actually that's not a bad idea. I took some time to fleshcraft myself, making Pervy guy a twin right above the original. I would surprise Leera and Lina later with this addition.
I slapped my face with my hands. Okay time to finish up Bob.
I gave Bob the long fur of the sha'dwarg making it all black. I gave it the mana gathering capabilities of the paradise falcon. I decided to give him a grey streak from the top of his head down to his tail as a nod to the honey badger which I was now convinced was his spirit animal. Though I didn't make it as wide as what a honey badger has because I still wanted Bob to look menacing.
I attached my finger and added all abilities and hybrid parts. I made Bob's eyes a deep crimson. I made his horns black. I used blend to finalize everything. Huh? I got an ability. Oh yeah, I forgot that I recently leveled up fleshcrafting.
Let's see what this ability is.
Increased perception of time:
When the sha'dwarg attacks or runs it's brain percieves time differently, allowing it to make fluid and complicated movements at lightning speed.
Yep, I definitely need that. So far my best attack strategy has been playing dead. I fleshcrafted myself to add that ability before I detached my finger.
I took a step back to look at my work.
Bob's body was huge. He would be taller than me when standing on all fours, and twice my height when standing on his hind legs, though I don't think he could do that for long. His weight if I had to guess would put him at over two tonnes. I had layered the muscle on thickly making him appear like a crossbreed of an american bulldog and a hellish wolf. This look should definitely compliment his infernal affinity.
I stopped fleshcrafting.
I opened the soul screen.
I gave Bob the sit skill. I laughed to myself, but it may serve a practical purpose as well. Bob might need to be controlled a little at some point.
I dragged Bob's soul onto his new body and waited to see my friend again.
Chapter 22: As Planned - Thads
I sat in the leader's tent, my tent now, laughing to myself. That old fool may have been a general with a vast knowledge of military strategy, but he knew nothing of subterfuge and politics.
I was one of the Duke's inner circle, did he think I didn't know how to make a few conspirators disappear.
Lenny was my inside man. In fact he had been so from the first girl. He was a virgin before coming here, did Bartas really think Lenny would give up an endless stream of new girls. He had also shown himself to be a sadistic bastard. Most of the resurrections I had to do where because of him. Once we were without a girl for a few days as he had literally torn off her head bare handed. By the time I had found out she had been dead for a few hours, there was nothing I could do. Lenny just walked back into the tent as I left to do godess knows what.
I got up and walked out. This place was really starting to stink now. After we dumped all the bodies in the latrine it had actually overflowed.
If ever there was a time to move camps it was now.
I waived over Lenny and a few of my trusted people. We walked back into the tent and over to a table with a map.
We began discussing places we could go. We had been here for a while now and had camped in most of the natural expanses within the area. Obviously we couldn't go back to those. They would have the same issues and a new host of beasts would be in the area now since we basically just left them food and departed. Not to mention the stench would still be there, and if a new latrine must be dug, it shouldn't be by an old one.
A few of the goblins had been able to speak some Therossian. Mostly they just said no, and it hurts, but one had asked us not to kill
his young gobs as he called them. We used that to find out where their village was.
At the very least, it should be a clearing, as a bonus they might have food or usable structures already in place. Maybe even a few human captives that we could play with.
I brought up the idea. Everyone seemed to be in support of it. I really did love the way they screamed. They were different from humans there as they never held back their reactions. They expressed pain and fear to their full extent. Not one goblin had ever tried to act brave.
"Alright it's decided. Have the men pack up all the tents and get them ready for departure. Tomorrow we slaughter goblins." I commanded as we all smiled at each other.
This will be fun.
Chapter 23: Bob's Back - John
Bob opened his big red eyes and sat back on his haunches, his tail wagging.
"Bob!"
"Boss!"
Bob hugged me, his massive body having no trouble dragging me over to him. I briefly hugged him back then pushed away.
"Things are kinda reversed now huh." Bob said somehow still maintaining his same old voice albeit a little deeper.
"Yeah, now you're the big one." I replied with a smile on my face.
Bob examined his new body before stopping at the obvious spot.
"Wow! I didn't think you'd actually do it. I guess now, I really can go screw myself." He laughed as he spoke.
Bob's eyes gradually drifted over to Lina and Leera.
"Lina? Is that you? I can see he really did some improving on you as well." He said while looking her up and down.
Lina jumped up out of Leera's lap and flew over to greet Bob.
"Ah, you can just take off now too, that's cool." Bob said, his eyes still glued on her small figure.
Lina hugged Bob's forearm before hopping back to be at my side.
"I finally did it! I'm the boss's mate!" She said as she began to flush red. "I can even have his babies!" She looked up at me and smiled shyly before continuing. "I think I may already have one one the way."
Bob's eyes went wide as he spoke. "Damn Boss, you move quickly! And I was wondering how you fit all that in Leera before, now I can't even imagine."
Deathcreator Book One Page 16
