35 The Low Road (1/2)
Rainer and Gunthar rode on a Werewolf Kara as she dashed away from the Wyverns. Rainer readied his flight spell. He knew what needed to be done. The moment he reached Gunthar's father he would free him. Reaching him, however, required more than just flight.
Even if he survived another direct hit of the spear, he'd fall out of the sky. He had but one chance, the moment another spear was launched, to soar and grab ahold of the undead variant, and tear the connection with the [Arch-Lich].
With Arcane-Wind swirling around him, Rainer prepared to take to the sky at any moment.
A spear formed once more, in the hand of the undead. The mana, not of his own. A solitary sun amongst the overcast clouds. Kara spun around as Gunthar held on fast. She held Rainer in her claws. Rainer cast a [Gravity Domain] around him and Kara.
Kara launched Rainer straight into the air as the spear flew toward them. She used the edge of his [Gravity Domain] to leap in an alternative direction.
A violet wind swirled forming a sphere around Rainer. He poured Arcane Power into [Arcane-Wind's Ascent] as he ascended toward his intended target. [Arcane Awakening] rose to its maximum.
The undead's sword stuttered in its sheath as Rainer unleashed his armed bolts against him. A shield of holy light rose from his other hand to block the magic.
Such a defense was exactly what Rainer had hoped for.
An [Arcane Blade] formed on his hilt and stabbed through the shield. As the blade went past the undead's head, Rainer reached out with his other arm. Wrapping his hand around the [Holy Guardian]'s head, he activated his shield mode.
His [Arcane Sight] revealed to him the connection between servant and master. And he brought upon it, the full force of the Arcane.
The [Arch-Lich] reeled back as he felt an all too familiar force attacking his necromancy. Even as this energy assaulted him, he could not hide the grin upon his face. It was in this moment; he understood the strange magic wielded by the quest partaker was no different than one he fought against in the past.
One he crushed with the cursing of death and in which he killed the final chances of Nalmar.
Even as his mind reeled, [Arch-Lich] poured his deathly magic into the connection.
The bond shattered, and a deadly gift followed.
Rainer felt the connection break. The undead too stopped his blade and grew confused at his new-found freedom. Such thoughts were interrupted as the undead around them swarmed, and Rainer's loosened grip dropped him from the sky.
The whites of his eyes made themselves visible as the presence of death erupted from him. Luna desperately enacted her flame upon him, holding the curse at bay. She paid no mind to the fall.
The [Ghoul Wyvern] under Theodore rejected his command, and he stabbed it with his aura infused sword. A swirling of golden light encompassed it as he severed the head of the Wyvern, plunging them both to the ground.
”Rainer!” Kara growled out as the muscles in her wolven legs tensed. A Demonic Aura formed around her. She launched herself with abandon.
She caught Rainer's falling body and used her own to soften the fall, as they crashed back into the ground.
The undead descended from the sky and with an enhancement of Aura landed undamaged. He ran over, sparing his confusion in the situation for later. He watched as another undead joined the fallen trio.
”Theodore!” Gunthar called out expectantly. Dearly, he hoped the undead before him was not only his father but with Rainer's severing of the connection, that he had regained himself. Theodore answered with more pressing matters.
”I fear your companion has little time,” Theodore called out as a spear of light formed in his hands. He used half of the remaining mana he received from the [Arch-Lich] and launched the mighty spell toward the flying group of wyvern descending upon them.
The bunched-up group fell to the powerful explosive light of the spell. It slammed into the center of their formation and left none surviving in its wake.
Theodore grabbed Rainer off Kara's back with his hand alit in Holy Light. He placed his hands on Rainer's chest as he assisted Luna in aiding him.
”Listen Archon, and listen well,” Theodore's words surprised Gunthar, ”You must control the Death Energy and absorb it into your mana pool. You have such power, to make this vile force your own.”
Theodore's voice echoed within Rainer's mind, even as he lay struggling to stay alive. He spread out newly converted Arcane Power through his body and fought against the Death Magic. He gripped and tore at it with his dying will. He would control it.
[Skill Gained: Death Manipulation lvl 1/10]
[Death Resistance has reached level 2]
Yet even as he gained control over the foreign power within him, both Theodore and Luna ran low on mana. He had little time. He followed the voice and manipulated the Death Magic inside him into his mana pool. It ravaged within, though it no longer harmed his body.
”Well Done, Archon. You are nearly there. You must remove the power of Death from within you, no different from using Mana in a spell. Force it out of your hands. Attack with it, strike with it, unleash as you must!”
Rainer lifted both of his hands weakly upwards, and Theodore hastily took away the resisting Fairy on Rainer's chest. His skeletal hand nearly burnt away in her protests yet she soon saw what she had needed to avoid.
A beam of Death Magic poured out of Rainer's uplifted hands. It came not only from there but seemingly out his whole body. The leaves above them crinkled and decayed into nothingness.
Just as the last amount left him, Rainer's arms fell, and he lapsed into unconsciousness. Both Kara and Luna went to him.
[Death Manipulation has reached level 2]
Kara noted immediately with her enhanced senses that he had aged slightly, 5 years at most. Yet for someone with a lifespan reaching over 300 years, such an event proved far more significant. When it came to a higher than normal Lifespan attribute, most of one's life would be spent in youth.
These 5 years of Rainer's lost appearance represented far more than just 15 years of his actual lifespan and was more akin to aging 35.
Even as she noticed this, Kara only grew glad at having the Fairy Dust they gained earlier. Luna operated her flame once more, not caring for her nearly depleted mana. She healed the remaining damage to his body and let out a sigh of relief.
Kara looked toward the undead for which Rainer had ended up in such a state for.
”Is it you, father…” Gunthar looked toward the undead as well, now that Rainer was confirmed to be alright.
”It is I, my son,” Theodore assumed the undead in front of him could only be Gunthar.
Kara laid Rainer on her lap. She gently stroked Rainer's hair away from his face as she awaited for his awakening. Luna slept in her usual pocket, exhausted. She had not overdrawn herself as she did during the 2nd Class Advancement and wouldn't need immediate attention. Though, she would eventually need to be fed once more as per usual.
While Fae needed a foreign source of mana as Humans needed food, she did not require this foreign source to recover her own Mana Pool.
”To think you resisted your Necromancer on your own. Truly impressive, Gunthar,” Theodore spoke as Gunthar finished recalling how he met his party. Given their undead forms, their reunion lacked a certain quality.
While Theodore had yet to join the party, he had more than enough leftover mana to operate the skill that allowed both him and Gunthar to keep themselves as their own men. Unlike Gunthar who was but chained to an ordinary [Lich], Theodore had been unable to even partially escape the grasp of his former master.
”How did you know about the Sorcerer, Father?” Gunthar said pointing over to Rainer.
”Sorcerer? In any case such energy…it was not hard to discern. I had watched…the Archon fail in a similar manner. Were it not for that miraculous Lady of the Fae; I do not believe he would have survived. I only know what the Archon had attempted in his dying throes. My attempt at healing and supporting him proved…a useless affair,” The regret in his voice was not difficult to discern.
”The Archon? What do you mean?”
”The Archon had returned after so many years. I knew him as but a boy. He sought to aid us, and yet when trying to sever the connection between a 2nd Class undead, just as your Sorcerer had, the Arch-Lich had engaged in a counterattack. He fought with all he had, and even seemed to conquer the perverse energy within him, and yet…I watched him decay into a corpse right before my eyes.”
”Thank you,” Kara faintly spoke in the distance. She could not understand Theodore, but she did know that he helped Rainer. Gunthar translated the thanks to his father who had yet to become Luna's servant.
”It is I, who is in your debt. How long I had lingered in this eternal hell. To have no choice, but to allow that wretched creature to pick and prod through my thoughts. I shall make it my final act to see his end!” Theodore spoke with fervor.
Gunthar looked on from the side in contemplation. Different from his father, he had not been truly subjugated. He could not imagine such an existence. Such a skill that allowed Theodore to maintain his true self and yet be too weak to resist the orders of the [Arch-Lich].
Gunthar lived in partial control, often gaining freedom to train and be free in his thoughts. Though he could never stray too far or push too hard against orders, he never truly succumbed to his former master.
”To think, an Archon was chosen to complete the quest. The Holy One had not abandoned us. To see our people free of this eternal slavery.”
Gunthar saw no reason to correct his father. That Rainer had been but a powerful, yet low leveled fledging.
”To think the Arch-Lich sought me as a weapon against my son and instead granted his end,” A laugh rose out of the still skeletal mouth of Theodore. Different from Gunthar's ordinary skeletal form, Theodore's seemed to have a light glow to it. A shining white even in the overcast. Lacking the pale blue flame, his eye sockets burned with golden light instead.
”What do you mean?” Gunthar asked unsurely.
”I did not allow the Arch-Lich to see all within my mind. Whether it was the real hidden Library of Nalmar or its secret passages, I kept what I sought never to enter his hands. I struggled against revealing secrets that were, in truth, nowhere near as important as the true ones.”
”We need to capture the remaining 5 forts first,” Rainer spoke out, just waking up. He had a general idea of what had happened when he was at the border of death.
”Capture?” Theodore asked confused, and Gunthar responded.
”It is a part of a quest.”
”Then shall we join with the rest of your party?” Theodore asked before he quickly apologized, ”I am truly sorry, Archon, I did not mean to bring up such a matter.” He immediately assumed that the rest were no longer around given Theodore only had orders to chase after these four.
It was Gunthar who laughed in response before speaking, ”It has only ever been these three. You will understand soon enough why only they were chosen. The Sorcerer is hardly the only one who defies reason among them.”
The golden flames of holy fire within Theodore's eyes glowed slightly as he imagined the death of the [Arch-Lich].
The [Arch-Lich] grew restless. He noticed he had not earned experience from his effort. He should have been directly responsible for the death of an [Archon]. And yet he gained nothing.
Did he survive?
Victor nervously questioned. He immediately began calling back all undead to the city of Nalmar. He would create an impregnable fortress. [Archon] or not, Victor sought to let none pass the gates. He had been brave in a contest of necromancy, but few mages knew of the [Archon]'s existence and did not fear it.
But it was not by the gate, his foe would travel.
Theodore easily kept up alongside the party as Gunthar and Rainer rode on a transformed Kara. With the added weight of Theodore's armor, it slowed her down. He, instead, chose to run alongside them.
Theodore had been added as Luna's servant now receiving mana from her as well. While his level had been reduced upon becoming an undead, his Aura capacity and his ability to regenerate it had not been significantly altered beyond the level up bonuses lost.
Gunthar and Rainer got off of Kara as they reached the first fort left uncaptured. Rainer paused in his steps as he understood a problem.
”Hey Luna, can I remove my 2nd Primary Class?” He asked, now worried about the quest experience being wasted. It had been a little over a day since he selected the [Chronomancer] class so he could not change to another. He did, however, have some hope of removing it.
”Nope,” Luna respond simply.
”Sorcerer, are you perhaps worried about the quest experience?”
”Exactly. It'd be a waste for it to go to Chronomancer, but I suppose there is no point in worrying about it now.”
”Sorcerer…what level is your…Chronomancer,” Gunthar asked doing his best to be unperturbed that Rainer had such a class so casually chosen as his second. Casually, in that, it was a waste to level it.
”Damn Archon…” Theodore swore under his breath, though, he was in truth glad at such strength. [Chronomancer] was a class, Theodore knew, that often required not only the knowledge of at least a tier 2 spatial spell but at least a high affinity for spatial magic.
”Level 4,” Rainer said in response to Gunthar.
”If it was truly an even split between your 2nd Tier Class and your second primary class, would several 2nd class Fae only garner you level 4?”
Rainer thought over his past encounters, and even now shared, there is no way such a thing could be true.
”Then?”
”The 2nd Tier class receives the majority of the experience. It varies depending on the classes themselves, but I would not worry too deeply about wasted quest experience. ”
Rainer nodded as they entered the empty fortress and easily gained the quest's reward.
Rainer recalled his progress as they headed toward a decrepit village. With Kara's level, far higher than before, their speed far surpassed their travel time during the first journey in Nalmar. They managed to finish all 5 remaining Fortress quests within half a day. A lack of undead made them cautious, yet such caution proved pointless.
Each fort contained nothing different than the ones before it. Rainer managed to collect several [Rings of the Nalmar Knighthood] from previously fallen undead. Most seemed to be damaged from time or by his Arcane Magic that slew them in the first place.
He also took a few tomes relating to the Light Magic he already knew, along with some simple healing spells [Paladin]'s of Nalmar often learned. He could always abandon them if he found more valuable replacements.
[Archon has leveled up to lvl 5/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 2 Attribute and skill points have been rewarded]
[Archon has leveled up to lvl 6/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 2 Attribute and skill points have been rewarded]
[Primary Classes: Archon(2nd) Lvl 6/25, Chronomancer lvl 4/25]
[Titles: Immortal Slayer, Arcane Scholar, Fae Contractor, Arcane Elementalist, Dungeon Pioneer, Philanderer, Trollsbane, Wielder of Space and Time, Wielder of Fire and Brimstone, Wielder of the Arcane, Energy Drainer]
[Exp: 28%, 68%]
[Sub-classes: None]
[Race: Human]
[Skill Points: 16]
[Talents: Excellent Arcane Affinity, Human Growth, Gift of the Fae(Luna)]
[Stamina: 16/22]
[Stamina Regen: .1% per second]
[Mana: 123/123(124)]
[Mana Regen: .0114 per second]
[Arcane Power: 72/72]
[Conversion Ratio: 1-11]
[Arcane Aura:11/11]
[Constitution: 19(+2)]
[Affinity: 124]
[Vitality: 18(+2)]
[Endurance: 20(+2)]
[Strength: 20]
[Dexterity: 20]
[Intelligence: 124(+2)]
[Willpower: 57]
[Arcane Attunement: 72]
[Aura Control:11]
[Aura Attunement: 11]
[Attribute points: 19]
For each fortress captured he received 50% experience, a combined total of 25% for the fort, and 25% for the small party bonus. 80% of that went to his [Archon] class and 20% to his [Chronomancer]. Compared to the total 100% per fort they received before, the quest experience reduced due to having a someone with a 2nd Tier class in their party.
[Half-Demon/Wolfkin, Female, Blade Dancer lvl 17, Demonic Werewolf lv 14]
Kara had no need to hide her demon half within Nalmar. Theodore did not seem even to notice. He spoke little, beyond telling them where to find another passage into Nalmar. Gunthar too lacked a voice. Rainer understood, remembering the words previously spoken, what Gunthar's father intended to do.
A solemn mood encompassed the party as Theodore entered one of the collapsed village buildings. Rainer sensed magic and cast [Arcane Sight]. He saw the pulsating of enchantment as a passage in the ground opened.
A staircase descending into the ground presented itself before the party. The tunnel while wide enough to possibly allow Kara in her werewolf form, it had not the size for her to carry anyone. The tunnel itself lead to a natural cave system after only several minutes of walking.
”The city should only be 2-3 days away from here,” Theodore spoke, ”We'll enter beneath the City Hall.”
”How far from this secret library you mentioned.”
”Do not fret, Archon. I know of the prowess of your class. I shall take you there. We must make careful haste once within the city. The moment we are spotted by, but a single undead, the [Arch-Lich] shall know of our presence. I do not imagine the lack of undead among the outskirts a coincidence. But what we find in the library could be quite useful in your preparations for the fight. We have no need to rush.”
Rainer simply nodded. Kara looked over at Rainer for a moment as they walked forward in the tunnel. She had yet to tell him the years of his life he had lost. But if they were to fight again against the [Arch-Lich] she knew she couldn't keep such an after effect a secret.
”Rainer, there is something you must know…”
”About?” He responded, confused.
”When you were attacked by the Death Magic, you aged about 5 years in appearance.”
Rainer gripped his hair as he grew in anger. He had yet to understand that 5 years in appearance was longer than he thought, but it did not matter. His thoughts filled with granting a final death to the [Arch-Lich].