“Dead,” Tirliora finished the necromancer’s sentence. I wonder who she is.
“Precisely,” the Death Herald agreed. “So, you’ll have to breathe to talk, but in fact, your body does not need oxygen anymore.”
“Okay, let’s deal with this later,” Derergon chimed in. “You’d better tell me where you bumped into this spiker squad?”
“When I ran away from the team of the rippers, whom you already killed,” I replied. “And I’ll answer your next question. I met the two-legged near the cave exit.”
“What were you doing there?” Tirliora stared at me in surprise. On the way back, I will definitely find out who this curious warrior is.
“I learned the ripper language and decided to make contact, but it didn’t work out,” I spread my hands.
“I won’t even ask how you did it,” the mercenary leader shook his head. “However, today’s loot was not bad, so you can safely return to the city.”
“Hmm... why didn’t pursue the spikers?” I decided to ask.
“Not all of them are bad,” said Derergon. “These are just soldiers who carry out their insane leader’s orders. Therefore, I didn’t need extra blood. They also want to live.”
“Then why don’t they overthrow their ruler?” I asked a logical question.
“Because there is no one among them who could do this, and we could not get close to him. We are mercenaries after all, and we do not work for nothing, but no one asked us to save them or promised us anything. All in all, it’s pointless to kill them for now, they are the same bugs as us.”
“Let’s suppose I understand.”
“Narr Nutt is too strong, even Mulf and Mohr could not take him down,” Derergon answered.
“I see,” I nodded.
So, the chief spiker is second only to the Supreme and the centipedes. By the way, if I do not need oxygen, then in this form I would be able to see them without needing to search for oxygen oases. But how do I talk to them? Because when I first met them, they just tore me to pieces.
I decided to take a closer look at these rippers. Passing the mercenaries, I approached a knight who was cut to pieces.
I opened his spatial pocket to see if the mercenaries had left anything in there. And to my surprise, I found eleven gold pieces and two small bottles of healing potion.
The Spatial Pocket ability has increased! Current Level: 12!
An additional cell is available!
Wow! Great! So, gold is good, but what are these potions? It looks like they are used to replenish health but considering the effect the two-legged spell had on me, it was better not to drink them.
Although the spell worked well because I was revived with the help of death energy, the potion should work fine. Hmm... while I am in this shape it is better not to drink it. I think it can work as a poison.
By the way, how can I use death? I know how lightning strikes a target, but how does death energy do it? I will need to learn it from Mohr, I think he can tell me how. Now I needed to check the rest.
Having inspected the bodies, I was surprised to find I now had other thirty-seven pieces of gold, so I collected half of the necessary sum for the mercenaries.
Another six healing potions, three mana potions and that’s all. Too bad I didn’t get a claw, then it would be just wonderful, although it was fine. I decided to approach the demon and surprisingly found a couple more things that were useful… perhaps.
Chapter 42
Demonic loot. The discussion. Back to Girerd.
A strange ring, the blood of a demon and the demon’s horn. That’s it! I put one of my claws in a pool of blood that was flowing under the demon, but nothing happened. However, I could try drinking his blood from the bottle later.
Hmm... better not, I am dead now, that’s why I couldn’t absorb the blood and shouldn’t drink it either until I’m revived again.
The Spatial Pocket ability has increased! Current Level: 13!
I gave the demon’s horn and blood to Skal since I no longer had room in my spatial pocket, and just noticed the way the mercenaries were looking at me. There was so much surprise on their faces that I was a little scared. Have I grown a couple more claws or something? But no, nothing like that.
“What?” I asked.
“Did you just check the spatial pockets of the rippers?” Derergon asked me in shock.
“Yes, why? By the way, why didn’t you do this?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Because none of us can,” the mercenary leader replied. “Beetles can go through anyone’s spatial pockets except the rippers’. Otherwise, we would have done a couple of such ambushes a long time ago and would have fully armed several squads.
Then, only high-level rippers can come here, but as you can see, we cannot do this. Even the weapons that wanderers lose when they die is not always possible to get.
“Well, I haven’t found a weapon either,” I spread my claws.
“It doesn’t matter,” said the Garadarok warrior. “If you were able to get into their spatial pockets, then with increased ability, you can see and take more. And this is amazing.”
“By the way, Der, when I went to the surface, I met a lot of small bugs, I told them to go to the city,” I said to the mercenary.
“Well done, there are never too many,” the Garadarok warrior nodded. “And we can always teach them.”
“Maybe it’s worth helping them, and it’s not only rippers that hunt them, but also goblins from the surface, and I had to go outside to kill them,” I said.
“Ushhh…” Derergon sighed, and his eyes became so big that I was afraid that they would pop out. “Squad, return to the city! Now! Take the demon’s body and run home! Mulf, you stay here and see if little lads come.”
“Alright,” the warrior’s quiet voice immediately disappeared into the darkness of the cave.
“Come on Sel Er, we need to talk somewhere where we can relax,” said Derergon. “Mohr, let’s go to your place.”
“Ok,” the necromancer agreed.
We got to the city surprisingly fast. The mercenaries dragged the demon without much effort, I was amazed at their strength. Mohr would create strange twists of dark smoke and green flame, and he would direct them at the dead girl who walked beside him.
Skal was vigorous as well and kept looking at Tirliora. Hmm... I wonder why? After going through a couple of tunnels, we finally reached the city.
“Drag the demon to Mohr’s laboratory, and then you’re free to go," Derergon told the mercenaries. “The rest can relax, we will have a small meeting later.”
The Laboratory of the Death Herald was at the outskirts of the city, in proud solitude among the stones. We went through the passage and were immediately met by a couple of dead levels 16 spikers.
“Leave the demon here, they can handle the rest,” Mohr said. The spikers picked up the body and went deep into the cave. “Thanks, guys, I owe you.”
“C’ mon, Mohr,” the mercenaries waved him off, “friends are there to help each other.”
“Well, as you say,” the necromancer nodded and followed the spikers.
After a while, we entered a spacious cave filled with all kinds of flasks, crystals, and bodies of various beetles.
Mohr pointed to the spikers on a large flat stone that served as a table. Next, to the stone there were shelves filled with... books. I was very surprised, because I hadn’t seen them before, but it was still a warm feeling as if my memory told me that I loved books very much. The spiker laid the demon’s body down and left the cave.
“So, how did you handle the mist?” Derergon asked me.
“What mist?” I did not understand what he was talking about.
“There is a gray haze at the cave exit,” the Garadarok warrior explained. “I told you about it.”
“I haven’t seen nothing of that sort,” I scratched my shell. “Only trees, the sky, mountain, and small goblins.”
“That’s strange,” said Derergon.
“It’s
not strange,” said Mohr. “Karkants had abilities in terms of resistance to magical influences and energies, perhaps they applied to this as well.”
“Well, let’s suppose you are right,” the mercenary nodded. “Then you take care of these two, I will talk to other mercenaries and ask around, and tomorrow we will go out to the surface. And one more thing, Tirliora, you don’t need to hide, come out.”
“How did you notice me?” the warrior jumped from the wall.
“You may be strong, but you are too young, and you still have no experience,” said Derergon. “Mohr, she is assigned to you.”
“Well, I’ll make a zombie out of her if she’s insubordinate,” the Death Herald stretched his arms.
“Do as you like,” the mercenary rolled his eyes.
“You’re kidding, right?” the girl asked, a little worried.
“Who can tell...” the necromancer replied, slightly bending his jaws.
Chapter 43
Necromancer’s house. The training. A short discussion
The Death Herald drew a couple of circles on a stone, where they put the demon’s body. Then he took a handful of black powder and poured it on different parts of the drawing.
I couldn’t understand what he was doing but, although I had many questions I wanted to ask, I did not dare distract him. After circling around the stone, the necromancer took his staff and tapped the drawing, which immediately flashed with a green flame. The parts of the demon’s body banded together, but nothing else happened.
“Ehh, there was not enough energy,” Mohr sighed. “Oh well, then you will help me. I see that you, Sel Er, have some questions for me. So, ask. Perhaps I can answer.
“How do I use the energy of death, which I saved up?” I decided to ask one of the main questions. “Like lightning?”
“Hmm...” Mohr looked at me carefully. “A very unusual Karkant, he acquired the ability to accumulate energy. In addition to death, which is now swirling inside you, I feel a trace of lightning and your own strength. So, you can manipulate energy. This is great. To use lightning, you just pull the energy cord to the enemy, right?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“The same can be done with the energy of death. Only the cord should be wider. Right, you spent all your energy on one hit. If you improve your energy manipulation, then you can do this,” said the necromancer, and a dark purple sphere began forming in his hand. “Look, this is the ball of death.
It can be transformed and saturated with various amounts of energy, changing the damage and impact on the objects it hits. Or, for example, you can do this,” the ball lengthened and turned into a translucent ellipsoid. “This is the arrow of death, it flies much faster than the sphere, but does less damage because the energy density is changed.
And yes, I almost forgot. Skal, you can do this as well and even better than your friend, since we gravediggers have a natural predisposition for manipulating the energy of death.”
“Great,” Skal nodded.
“I will teach you and your friends how to do it right,” said the Death Herald. “Tirliora, I feel a small amount of energy in you as well, so you can try to develop your gift, but you will not be able to control your death.”
“It doesn’t matter, what matters is that I learn how to do it,” the girl’s eyes lit up with impatience. “It would be great to start training as soon as possible.”
“Do not rush, it’s not all the same,” Mohr placed his staff on the stone. “One thing is to control and manage your own energy, another thing is to control death, then there are still other things.
Every energy has its own characteristics and requires a special approach. It requires concentration, diligence, patience, and a lot of training to learn how to manage it.
But this knowledge will make you stronger, and the more knowledge you have, the more powerful you can become, and the stronger you become...
“The harder it will be to kill us and the more we will be able to learn,” Skal interrupted. “I know.”
“Heh... you are such an advanced student,” the necromancer said. “Very good. Let’s show you how to manipulate death.” The Death Herald touched Skal with his sharp claw, and my friend grimaced in pain and squeezed his cheeks. “You thought it would be easy?”
“No,” Skal said firmly. “Power is never acquired easily.”
“Well said, and now we will continue.”
The necromancer tormented Skal for quite a while until the poor beetle finally collapsed to the ground, but looking at Mohr you could tell that it was successful. Strange, when the goddess taught me, it did not hurt, and everything ended much faster. I wonder why? And by the way, what does the word goddess mean?
“It will be more difficult with you, Tirliora, but we will try,” the necromancer stretched his arms.
“G-good," the girl said apprehensively and closed her eyes as the necromancer touched her. But then she began to hiss, squeeze her hands tight and, falling on the ground, she began to punch the stone.
“It didn’t take that long,” the Death Herald looked at the girl who barely opened her eyes and was completely exhausted from the pain. “It took even less time than with Skal.
Well, we don’t need such a ritual with Sel Er, he already knows how to operate the energy. Tirliora will no longer be able to do anything today, unlike the two of you. Then let’s start learning,” said the necromancer, slightly bending his jaws. I heard strange sounds similar to cough like he was chuckling, but what was so funny?
I got my answer soon enough. The necromancer turned around and launched a small dark-violet sphere at me, which threw me back a few feet.
It was unexpected, so I didn’t even try to dodge it, but Skal managed to duck. Meanwhile, the Death Herald turned his attention back to me and this time he threw an arrow, which I repelled with an energy shield that cracked but did not break when hostile energy hit it.
“Impressive,” the necromancer nodded. “How about this?” He asked, and he threw two spheres at me, one of them bigger than the other.
These spells ripped my energy board to shreds and knocked me out. Again, it was very strange. The blows didn’t hurt, which was quite unusual. When I woke up, I saw the dead two-legged above me.
“Yes, so I was right,” the necromancer said happily. “The experiment was a success. The priestess’s spells can now heal the undead, great.”
“So you did an experiment on me while I was blacked out? And why, may I ask, did you need to attack me?” I was angry with the necromancer.
“Because of this,” he said, and without warning, threw a small sphere of death at Skal, but he instantly reacted. And caught it. I was amazed. “You see, the effectiveness of this method is indisputable. Did you not notice anything in yourself?”
“Hmm...” I thought. There really was something strange.
“You understand?” the necromancer bent his jaws, obviously satisfied. “You feel the manifestations of the energy of death.”
The ability “Simple manipulation of energy” up! Current Level: 4!
“Looks like I have to agree,” I sighed and got up.
“Great, then we go to Derergon. I think we should go,” the necromancer said, and I just then realized that we had been in his laboratory for quite a while. “Sel Er, you are now stronger, so take Tirliora and bring her home. She will not be able to join us in conversation today. Skal, you and I, we’ll join the rest.”
“But...” the gravedigger wanted to argue, but he changed his mind. “Good.”
***
Derergon
“Mulf, what do you say?” - asked Derergon.
“None of the little fellows appeared,” the mercenary replied. “Perhaps they did not dare follow the route that Sel Er traced for them.”
“All right,” the squad leader nodded. “Any thoughts on Sel Er’s abilities?”
“Honestly, no,” Mulf shook his head. “I have not seen many Karkants and I don’t know if any of them could have done this. And I can
not understand how he could learn the ripper language without a teacher.
“It’s simple,” said Derergon. “He has a teacher, but for some reason, he does not want to reveal his identity.”
“Maybe because you did not ask him?” Garadan asked quite a logical question.
“It is possible, but I still think he does not want to talk about him. However, it will not cause us any harm. Sel Er is very unusual and, despite his low level, he is strong,” the leader of the mercenaries was pacing up and down. “Even Mohr is interested in these two.”
“Der, he used lightning,” said Mulf. “Though they were weak.”
“So he is capable of controlling energy, there are very few bugs like him,” said Derergon. “Just you, Mohr, and two or three others. Well, maybe five, and that’s for the entire city. So we definitely need to keep them here, at least for a while, maybe they’ll end up wanting to join us.”
“Well, if you consider the way Skal looks at Tirliora, he definitely does not want to leave,” Garadan grinned. “And Sel Er will not leave him by himself, we already saw that.”
“You’re right, Gard,” Derergon nodded. “Sel Er doesn’t throw words around lightly, and if we help him develop, who knows, maybe he can help us turn our situation around.
As for the little bugs, I thought that rippers did not bother them much, but apparently, I was wrong. I did not expect that even surface creatures would kill our defenseless brothers. What’s more, new students will do us good, so we need to help the little fellows.”
Chapter 44
Tirliora. Mercenaries’ discussion. The plans.
Sel Er
I had to stray around the city pretty much, but everything had its advantages. And the main one was that I was able to see the inhabitants of this city closer. Small bugs ran from one house to another, imitating their elders.
By the way, I was interested in what they fed on because there were quite a lot of beetles and everyone needed something to eat. There were not so many mercenaries and inhabitants around and they mainly looked after the little ones. Looked like most of them were somewhere else then.
Monster Page 17
