A Flesh Golem's Ascension

by John Domus Cruo

  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 waved 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 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 near 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, and 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.

  "All right, 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 would 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 on 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."

  Lina fiddled with her fingers as if not sure what to do with her hands and then replied.

  "It doesn't... Well, not all of it." She looked a little ashamed.

  I picked her up and held her in my arms as she looked into my eyes, obviously thinking about what she had said.

  "Damnit, Bob, what did you make me say!" she yelled out uncharacteristically.

  I heard Leera chuckle behind me as she approached. She had her long hair draping over her breasts. The black of her hair stood out in contrast to her almost white skin. She had a hand covering her lower parts.

  Although she wasn't shy like Lina, I think she still felt self-conscious when another male was around. I would need to make her something to wear soon.

  Bob's anatomy responded as he tried to look away, likely for my benefit.

  "Leera, I love what you've done with your hair! You really must tell me your secret." Bob said with a smile.

  "Welcome back, Bob! He's really missed you, you know," she said while nodding in my direction.

  Bob swept us all up in a hug, which was unfortunate considering his current state. I broke it off immediately.

  "It's good to be back! Now I need to hunt something large, vulnerable, and preferably female." He slowly exhaled. Fog started to pour from his mouth.

  "What the hell is this?" he said, shocked, as he hurriedly tried to wave it away.

  "All right, Bob, let me give you the rundown on your new parts and abilities." I said, trying to change the subject.

  Bob's smile broadened more and more as I explained everything. By the time I was done I could tell he was just itching to try everything out.

  The moment I had stopped speaking, Bob had taken off into the forest, just a blur of black fur and glowing red eyes. He was out of sight in almost a blink of an eye.

  I looked out in the direction he disappeared into only to see a massive cloud of fog and hear fiendish cackling.

  Well, it looks like I get to spend the day alone with the ladies.

  I walked over to the remains that were strewn about while I was Fleshcrafting. I sat Lina down as she sighed in regret.

  I Fleshcrafted the bear's skin, turning it into a pelt. I fashioned it into a small, simple tunic. I really needed a way to fully cure these; it would probably just be a few more days before the fur started falling out. I handed it to Leera.

  She smiled up at me, hugging it close to herself as she spoke. "Thank you for the gift. Is there any way I can repay you?"

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the cave.

  It looked like Pervy Guy's twin would be making his debut soon.

  Chapter 24: Scouting — John

  I walked out of the cave satisfied. Doubling Pervy Guy had some unintentional side effects. My perversion had reached new levels. Literally — it was now level 2. Does that mean I've now surpassed even satyrs in lust? Great, double puberty, just what I needed.

  Those strange sensations hit me again. Perhaps I should investigate them today. I'll add it to the list.

  I called for Bob.

  I saw a trail of red light that stopped suddenly in front of me, becoming Bob's eyes. Holy crap, just how fast had I made him? Blood was dripping from his mouth. He looked down at me expectantly.

  "Hey there, Bob, how goes the hunt?" I asked.

  He just laughed as he answered. "Boss, you're my hero; this body is great. I can kill something almost as soon as I see it."

  "Awesome! Would you mind watching the cave while I'm out? I need to find us a new place to stay."

  "But Boss, I thought I saw one of those bears you were talking about! It might be a lady," he said, offering an unnatural wink.

  "All right, but come back as soon as you’re done. I don't know when I'll be back. Please don't kill any goblins or necromancers at the moment, either; they might be friends." I said seriously.

  "Aw, you're spoiling all my fun today." He looked depressed for a moment before making up his mind. "Okay, Boss, but just because you asked."

  I waved goodbye to Bob and started exploring the mountain around the cave. Although I did have a map of the area, the map didn't really show anything as detailed as caves or clearings, so I decided to check myself, all while scouting for possible dangers around us.

  I managed to coerce a crow that was sitting in a nearby tree. I fed it the directions that I felt those pulling sensations coming from, and it sent visions back to me from its perspective. I saw myself flying in the sky over the forest. There was a small goblin village. I got the sensations of smell, as well, from this one; it was absolutely horrid. I'm betting those buildings aren't made of mud, but a different substance entirely.

  It then flew right for a long while before coming to a clearing as if guided by an alluring smell. I saw several tents. There were men outside the tents. The crow sensed danger and landed in a nearby tree. I saw a pit filled with bodies. It smelled worse than the goblin
village. Ew, I guess it serves multiple purposes. I wonder if anyone ever fell in there while doing their business? Maybe that's where the bodies come from?

  I nodded to the crow and it flew off. I didn’t know how long it had been since it was near those places, but these are the first non-necromancer humans I had seen. Judging from their outfits I guessed they might be soldiers. Somehow, someone from the camp was calling to me. I felt a pull there more powerful than the goblin village.

  On the long walk back to the cave I decided to visit the dryad again to ask some questions.

  The dryad formed from her tree and smiled at me. This time she chose autumn colors, making the vines and leaves of her hair different shades of yellow, orange, and red.

  Yep, she's a redhead.

  I stopped my heart. I didn't need another woman trying to entice me.

  The now-familiar scowl returned.

  "Hey there, you." I said while smiling at her.

  "Do you really have to do that? I absolutely hate undead things; not only can I not eat them, but they are an affront to the life cycle," she spat.

  "Okay, as long as you promise not to try to drain me, because even if you tapped me dry, I wouldn't die. I would just become one of those things you seem to hate." I warned.

  I started my heart back up, and she relaxed her posture, a natural smile coming back to her face.

  "Well, what are you here for? I'm assuming it's not to cut off my head again," she said with a hint of anger still in her voice.

  "I had a few questions for you about some settlements around the area."

  "Uh uh uh. What do I get for providing this service? After what happened earlier, you can't think I'll answer for free," she responded, waving her finger back and forth.

  What the hell would a dryad take as payment? Oh, yeah, this is another ploy to drain me.

  "All right, I'll let you drain a little, but if I feel like you've gone too far, you're cut off — literally."

  I held out my hand and she nervously took it. I felt a vine wrapping around my wrist, probing until it found a vein.

  She began draining me, and to my surprise it wasn't just blood, but my mana pool. I saw my mana dipping at about 2 mana per second. If this was it I could maintain this for around an hour and a half, more with mana regen and passive mana-gathering.

  She seemed to be in a state of extreme happiness.

  "Ooh, you're not half bad-tasting, but my memory is foggy. I just can't quite think clearly about what might be in the area. Maybe if you let me use a few more vines my memory would clear up," she said with an innocent smile.

  This damn dryad was still trying to hustle me.

  "All right, you can add two more, but that's it." I said firmly.

  Two more vines snaked up my arm with unrestrained enthusiasm, driving themselves into my veins like the first had done. I felt a much more substantial drain now. Like this, I could probably only hold on for a half hour.

  She was rocking her head back moaning slightly her eyes glazed over. Did I just accidentally give a junky her fix? Does she even need this to live? I looked up at the majestic tree. My guess is no, no she doesn't.

  "All right, lady, you owe me some answers." I said in a partial growl.

  "Oh, that. I'm a dryad, you idiot, do you think I ever leave this tree? How the hell would I know?" She laughed and the drain suddenly jumped up.

  "Now die you, unholy half-dead," she shrieked as she gave her all to drain me. She ended up stopping after draining around 500 mana, give or take.

  I just stood there looking at her. "Okay then, still alive here. Was that your big plan, drain a measly 500 mana from me and then act like a jackass? Because if it was, you've succeeded." I said in a flat tone.

  "Measly!? This is more mana then the great forest spirit has. Anyone would be dead after that! By the abyss, it should have forced you to convert your own soul into mana just to feed it," she said as she stared at me with an undisguised look of horror.

  "Nope, I still have 9,580 mana left and rising. If you don't understand mana numerically, I'll put it in simpler terms for your wood-filled head. You only got five percent. You could do that again twenty more times. So, yeah, measly works here." I said in a condescending tone.

  She collapsed to the ground, her vines going limp in the process, but I still held her hand so she couldn't get away. I could still feel a drain, but it was under one mana per second. I think I may have filled her up.

  I looked down at her catatonic face as she stared at nothing in particular.

  I guess it's time my cave gains a new lady-shaped statue; I'm sure Bob could make use of it.

  "Okay, time to die." I said as I dragged her to her feet. She wasn't even fighting me anymore — she just held my hand tightly and walked obediently behind me. I didn't even bother disconnecting the vines; this would be over with soon enough.

  We walked for several seconds, the tree starting to disappear into the forest as we went. Hmm, last time she was already a block of wood. What's happening?

  "Hey, sawdust for brains, what's happening here? Shouldn't you be a statue by now?" I asked in confusion.

  She tilted her head back up at me as if she couldn't understand words anymore. "Heh, heheh," She just laughed dumbly at me. Did she overdose? I slapped her face, and to my surprise it was soft like flesh. Huh. I tried to use Fleshcrafting on the super-thin vines that made up her hair. To my surprise they responded and slowly became regular hair. I turned it all a bright red. It looked like I had full control.

  I stopped where I was and began to shake her. She regained a bit of life in her eyes and looked at me in fright.

  "Wh... Just where in the abyss is my tree!?" she shrieked in terror. She quickly tried to release my hand, but I held her tightly.

  I slapped her again, not necessarily to calm her down, but because she just tried to kill me back there.

  She brought her trembling hand up to her face and rubbed at the now reddening spot.

  "A dryad cannot be separated from her tree, this is just impossible!" she said as looked around. A thought seemed to spring into her head as her eyes darted down to our clasped hands.

  "No, no no no. This can't be happening. It can't be true! Oh, goddess, tell me this is a lie,” she said in partial freak-out while raising our hands to her face.

  The broken laughter started again as tears poured down her cheeks. She looked at me, her head cocked to the side, one eye twitching.

  "You are my new tree," she said as manic laughter tore from her.

  I think I broke the dryad.

  "Just what the hell are you talking about? I'm not a tree." I said, confused.

  I slapped her again — it still felt good — but before I could remove my hand, hers grabbed it, holding it to her now-soft face. A small line of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as she spoke. "Dryads are parasitic. We naturally attach ourselves to the strongest power source, which until now was that huge tree over there. The amount of mana it gathers is incredible, but you just have so much that I must have subconsciously switched."

  Oh great, Leera and Lina were just going to love this. I went for a walk, and now I'm coming back with a crazy mana-stoned tree-lady.

  "Oh no, you're not coming with me. I'm marching you right back to your tree." I said as a bit of my panic seeped through.

  "I, I can't. Not anymore. I'm afraid I'm more flesh and bone than tree now. It would take me years to change back with only the mana that the tree provides." She still held my hand to her cheek. It felt warm.

  I think it's my turn to freak out now. I started feeling lightheaded. I used flechcrafting on myself. She had stopped drawing so much mana, but now she was drawing blood ravenously. It was a good thing I ate so much of that bear or I would already be in undead mode.

  "All right, lady, just how long do you intend to suck my blood for?" I said as I looked at her.

  I wanted to kill her, but at this point it didn't quite feel right.

  "I'm almost complete. Just
give me a little bit more," she said in an uncharacteristically pleading tone.

  I felt the drain stopping gradually. Her once-bright-emerald skin was now only a slightly green color that clashed with her vibrant red hair.

  Her vines withered and fell from my wrist, but she still held my hand tightly as if afraid to let go.

  "Did you think I would let you drain me like this without punishing you?" I said as I gave her a sinister smile.

  I melded our hands together. From what I had observed from the goblin youth, I was sure that Fleshcrafting was excruciating to anything that wasn't one of my flesh constructs. I added all of my abilities to her, including the mana-gathering hair and mana-regenerating heart.

  She screamed and writhed on the ground, clawing at her chest and eyes. I made her eyes a bright orange color, adding a bit of red as the green she had originally mixed with the yellow of the wendigo.

  I didn't know something could scream this much. I had to mend her self-inflicted injuries at least a dozen times. She actually tried to strangle herself once with her free hand. That was amusing.

  She finally just lay there, gasping for air. I sat by her, lowering my hand to the ground.

  "No more. Please, I've had enough. Please, stop!" she croaked and begged.

  I used Blending. She let loose one last soul-shattering screech before losing consciousness. I used Fleshcrafting to wake her up.

  "There, you're all done now." I said as I separated our hands.

  Her eyes were glowing orange as she looked at me. She exhaled and a green fog came out, causing the plants it touched to grow and bloom.

  "I've given you some mana regen and mana-gathering capabilities of your own. No need to be a damned parasite anymore." I got to my feet and began to walk away.

  She just lay there in a daze. Great, if all she does is lie there she's definitely going to get eaten by nightfall. I shrugged and started to take another step, then hesitated. Shit! I turned back around and walked back over to her.

  I scooped her up into my arms and started my trip back to the cave. The whole time she said nothing. As I approached the cave I looked down at her. She was staring at me with a scared expression as she held tightly onto my harness as if afraid I would drop her.