by Sarah Lin
Unfortunately, Danniah only cooed over the skull for a little while before concern returned to her face. "It's just... I was having so much fun in Manascas, I'd hate if we needed to run away to avoid the guards."
Izilthor sensed her sadness and rubbed against her, but they were still starting that cycle again. Bloodwraith sighed. "We'll need to be more careful, but I doubt the city guard will be coming after us."
"But are you sure? I just..."
She trailed off as the door opened. Both of them stiffened and Izilthor jumped into the pile and lay still, but it was only Meara. Though she quickly closed the door behind her, Bloodwraith didn't see any serious concern on her face.
"You can both relax. The guards haven't put up posters of you or anything - they aren't even searching. And around here, people didn't even hear about the incident. I asked around and it seems that things like this do happen from time to time. If you'd killed someone important, they'd investigate, but when it's thugs who have fought others... the guards tend to look the other way."
"Oh, that's a relief!" Danniah flopped down onto the bed and Izilthor hopped over to sit on her head. "So we're in the clear?"
Bloodwraith shook his head. "Just to be sure, we should lie low and not wear our most identifiable armor for a few days. Just to confirm that there isn't a secret investigation."
"I doubt there will be." Now that she'd delivered the good news, Meara's lips twisted in a strange smile. "There are rumors about what happened, though. Sounds like many of them got the story wrong, which should protect you further, but you may be amused to hear them."
Danniah jerked her head back up, sending Izilthor tumbling. "Wait, people are talking about us?"
"Oh, they're talking about you. They say a group of thugs attacked a halfling woman and she tore them apart, literally ripping them limb from limb. I tell you, this halfling sounds like she's a real monster! They say she had magic that turned her partially into a beast so she could tear her enemies open and eat their entrails. People are claiming they saw her arrive in Manascas and that she killed a man just for looking at her wrong. Ripped off his jaw and beat him to death with it."
As Meara spoke, Danniah's face became more and more pale. At the end she threw herself back down and pulled a pillow over her head. "Oh nooo..."
"You should be happy, Danniah! All you have to do is put on that scary helm of yours and you can instantly become the Monster of Manascas!"
"I don't want a scary reputation! Stupid helm!"
"You know, I wonder if we should be consorting with you any more. I'm not sure someone who tears their enemies apart is a good companion for Raigar the Valorous."
"Stop it!" Danniah sat up and chucked the pillow at Meara, actually catching her full in the face. Meara staggered backward, eyes open in mock horror.
"Raigar, please don't let her eat my entrails!"
Though Danniah flushed and pouted, she seemed less concerned than she'd been before. Bloodwraith rubbed her on the back to try to balance her. "Don't worry, Danniah. There are many rumors in a city as large as this one. You'll continue being yourself and the rumor will pass quickly. The only consequence will be making Baratak hesitate to attack us again."
"I suppose you're right." Danniah sighed. "Not the kind of reputation I wanted to get, though."
Meara folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. "So, what are you going to do? There's no need to stay in here, but I imagine you want to avoid anything else that might get you into trouble."
"Oh! We actually did something." Danniah looked around and found Izilthor where it had fallen when she started moving wildly. She picked up the skull and showed it to to Meara. "Bloodwraith made it so that he can hear our orders too!"
"Izilthor, flip upside down." Meara raised her eyebrows when the skull obeyed instantly, flipping over and then clattering its jaw as if laughing. "Heh, it actually did. That will be useful when Bloodwraith turns it into something big and scary."
"I hope that isn't too soon. Right now he's like a pet... I've been trying to think of an easier name, but so fa-"
Bloodwraith snatched the skull from her hands. "The Great Devourer of Flesh is not a pet!" Being friendly with his allies was one thing, but this was too far.
To make his point clear, Bloodwraith decided to take care of another loose end. He picked up his Extra-dimensional Bag and took out one of the bloody limbs of the last man he'd killed. Held in stasis by the bag's magic, it still dripped blood, though he caught that with his hand.
Izilthor perked up and hopped over to him to begin eating the dismembered arm eagerly. Danniah blanched at the sight and looked away, but didn't let it go that easily.
"Izilthor, do you really like eating corpses?"
To Bloodwraith's surprise, the skull turned to her and nodded vigorously. Danniah sighed.
"Well... I suppose that's just your nature..."
Regardless, Bloodwraith kept feeding the dead flesh to the skull. It crunched through the bone as well, converting it all into raw power. At the end it even moved down to his hand that had caught the dripping blood. He felt magic tingle across his palm as the blood was... lapped up, almost as if with a tongue. Soon everything was gone and Izilthor eagerly clattered for more, so he began feeding it the next piece.
"You know, that thing really has remarkable intelligence," Meara said. "Does it understand everything we say?"
"Of course it understands." Bloodwraith glanced up from feeding the skull to raise an eyebrow. "Their core function is to obey orders, so it's essential that the ability to understand them is built in."
"That makes sense, but I'm not sure it's only that. With all the additional traits you explained to us, Izilthor here is obviously more than a mere automaton."
"Yes, the boxes didn't allow me that option. With real undead, it often makes sense to give them extremely simple commands, like to attack anyone that enters a room. But since the 'Undead Companion' skill is designed for a traveling adventurer, it includes greater autonomy."
Meara shook her head. "No, I'm saying it's more than that. Admittedly it doesn't have a face, but it clearly has emotions. It seems to like Danniah, and you can't say it doesn't look happy to be chowing down on dead flesh like that."
"Perhaps, but does it matter?"
"It might. I was wondering: if it can understand us perfectly, why not give it the ability to speak?"
That stopped Bloodwraith cold as he considered the possibility. Such a thing would be utterly wasted on normal undead, but perhaps it might have a benefit here. They could use Izilthor to scout without needing to set up elaborate scrying magic that would probably be beyond him. Or set it up as a guard while they slept, since the undead needed no sleep unless fatigued.
Danniah nodded eagerly. "Oh, I like that idea! Can we try it, Bloodwraith?"
"I'll consider it. Give me a moment..." He began feeding Izilthor another leg and then delved deeper into the boxes, this time looking for traits involving speech...
[Absolute Speech
Cost: 100 NP
The Undead Companion will gain the ability to speak via purely magical means, regardless of the anatomy of its current form. It will be able to communicate perfectly in any language known by the user. In addition, it will be able to relay commands to other undead and potentially generate new orders if other traits allow for independence.]
"That's absurdly expensive. It's not possible."
"Don't be so hasty," Meara said. "I'm having trouble reading that box, but it feels very heavy. Surely there are options that involve less power? You're not trying to create a perfect undead today, after all, just one that can grow in a useful way."
"I'll look further..." Concentrating deeper, he managed to summon several boxes with more appropriate traits...
[Voiced Undead
Cost: 5 NP
The Undead Companion will gain the ability to speak in any language its Intellect allows.
NOTE: This trait requires an undead with traits that give
it a functioning tongue and vocal cords and as such will remain dormant on skeletons and similar classes of undead.]
[Language Development
Cost: 10 NP
The Undead Companion will gain an increased ability to learn and use language. Linguistic ability will begin at nearly non-existent levels, but this trait will adapt to the Undead Companion's form, taking the shape of magical or vocal speech as its form allows.]
[Psychic Connection
Cost: 15 NP
The Undead Companion will gain the ability to converse directly with the mind of its master, with fluency equal to its Intellect. Connections to designated allies can be added for an additional 5 NP.]
Though his desire was to spend as few points on this capacity as possible, the "Voiced Undead" trait was simply useless in his current situation due to missing prerequisites. The "Psychic Connection" trait had obvious advantages, but it was too expensive for his taste, especially since he'd need to spend 20 NP with the upgrade. That left "Language Development," which matched his overall plan of letting Izilthor grow over time.
Meanwhile, Izilthor had gained another Necromancy Point from consuming the body. Bloodwraith decided that he could afford to spend the 10 NP on this skill and hope it would pay dividends down the road. He reluctantly selected the trait and let the surge of necromantic power rush through the skull.
Izilthor blinked and went still for a moment. Everyone watched, then after a pause it opened its mouth and let out a rasping sound. It was similar to the screeches of many undead, more mana than normal speech. Though Danniah winced at the sound, as Izilthor continued to make odd noises, she began to smile.
"He's trying to talk! That's so cute..."
"Izilthor is an 'it'." Bloodwraith folded his arms and glared at Danniah. "Cease thinking of it as a pet or child. Bear in mind that this is an Undead Companion, born with perfect comprehension of commands, not to mention the ability to fight and the hunger for flesh. Certain aspects of growth may be comparable to living creatures, but they are never the same."
Danniah stuck out her tongue at him. "I know that, but I still find it cute. You have to admit Izzy here is pretty friendly."
While Bloodwraith spluttered, Meara gave a wide grin. "Izzy, huh? That's his new name?"
"Yeah, I just thought of it! It kind of works for him, doesn't it?"
In response Izilthor let out a screech that could have meant anything. It was quiet enough that the sound probably didn't escape the room, but Bloodwraith still realized that it was a potential liability. He picked up the skull and held it up before his face, eyeing it seriously.
"Izilthor, you can't let anyone hear you. Just like being seen, it could lead to problems. Do you understand?"
The skull nodded and made a softer rasping sound.
"You won't be able to express yourself fully yet, but I look forward to the day when you can remind Danniah that you are an undead construct, not a pet."
That prompted Izilthor to tilt back and forth in confusion. Then, to Bloodwraith's horror, it jumped onto his shoulder and began rubbing against his face, while letting out a rasp that was more than just a screech:
"Dada!"
Bloodwraith sighed and hung his head in defeat, while Danniah cooed and Meara laughed so hard she nearly fell over. Izilthor saw his concern and tried to comfort him, which was no comfort at all.
"You should have seen this coming!" Meara barely managed to say between guffaws. "Excellent work, Bloodwraith - Father to the Undead!"
He put his hands over his face. Just what was his life becoming?
~ ~ ~
Over the next several days, Danniah's anxiety diminished and even Bloodwraith's paranoia was satisfied that they were in no immediate danger. There were several people who might be able to put together that Danniah had been the person in the rumors, but there was no proof and nothing the city guard would act on. Though he personally thought Baratak had been defanged, they remained cautious regardless.
That started with not making any attempts at the next tournament. They would have had a final chance to participate in qualifying rounds, then two days after that was the grand tournament. Instead, Bloodwraith focused all their efforts on developing the power they needed if they came into conflict again.
For Danniah, that meant going outside the city on simple quests that Meara vetted. She took Izilthor along with her, though Bloodwraith worried that she would be a bad influence on the young undead. Since he'd been forced to admit that Izilthor was child-like in development, in some ways, it was important that it be raised properly. But the corpses it could eat with Danniah had significant raw value.
Meanwhile, he just watched the EXP and NP roll in and focused on working at the Savages Guild. For a nominal fee, Kantan was glad to teach him more tricks of the supposed "Wolf's Fang." Bloodwraith stayed focused on it, trusting that it would eventually translate into the system he understood, and one day was rewarded with a new set of boxes:
[New Skill Acquired: Empowering Rage!
Starting Level: 1
EXP +3000]
[Empowering Rage
This ability can be paired with any skill in the Barbarian class to increase damage in return for mana. An empowered version of a skill will cost double mana and multiply ordinary damage. Damage is increased by 20% at level 1 and the multiplier will increase with each additional level.]
Bloodwraith felt a sense of satisfaction to have it finally laid out so simply. In the early levels, empowering skills would be inefficient, but eventually it would become a powerful ability. By using potions from Meara, he practiced the skill relentlessly until it increased to level 2 and the description said that the multiplier had become 1.4. Excellent. That meant that he only needed to increase the skill to level 5 before it would become cost effective, and it would only improve from there.
The EXP bonus was nice, but didn't impress him like it once would have. Working in Manascas was simply too effective, with Danniah earning around 2000 EXP every day. And that was with relatively simple quests - once they were strong enough to attempt the more difficult ones Meara kept finding, the rewards would increase even further.
But first, he needed to focus on qualitative improvements. At the end of that day, he felt like he'd learned what he needed from the Savages Guild, but considered returning anyway. It was a suitable enough place to train, provided that he stayed away from Gharavi's attempts to get closer to him.
On his way out, he was stopped by Kantan. The old man spoke while looking toward the sky, not making eye contact.
"You're strong, boy. And you have real potential. I haven't seen many master these skills so quickly."
"I have unfair advantages."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
Bloodwraith just shook his head. "I'm gifted in some ways, but not in others. Thank you for teaching me so much."
Kantan chuckled. "Always known there was something strange about you, boy. But you have your head on straight. Keep your friend from killing anyone else, alright?"
He looked toward the older man in alarm, but Kantan still didn't look at him.
"Don't worry, the guards don't care. But some of us have put the rumors together. I'd tell you to be cautious of someone as vicious as her, but I reckon you know what you're doing. Just be careful."
In response Bloodwraith simply grunted, not sure how to take that. After a while longer, Kantan headed back inside and let him go on his way.
As he headed back into the city, Bloodwraith scanned his inventory and considered their available resources. Between Meara's sales and Danniah's quest rewards, they were making a decent amount of money on a daily basis. Not enough to buy a large number of rings, but enough that he was beginning to scour shops for improved equipment.
So far he had found little that he would consider actually remarkable, so he continued hoarding their money. The most significant upgrade they could acquire would be the sphere they had taken - both to get the armor contained within and to use the
sphere for Danniah's armor. But Meara had tried and failed to work with it and they didn't dare go to a real mage, so it remained a useless silver bauble for now.
Eventually the day of the grand tournament arrived. Bloodwraith headed back to the inn after doing his usual work, but when he entered the room, he found Danniah still in her armor and Meara waiting by the door. Meara glanced at him and spoke first.
"Since things have been relatively calm and we've been working hard, we thought that we might attend the tournament today. Just as spectators."
"Can we?" Danniah smiled up at him while petting Izilthor. "It would be a chance to see some of the best fighters in the city, plus lots of important people will be there. I'm honestly not just making excuses because I want to go... wouldn't this be our best chance to gain more information about Manascas?"
"Dada!" Izilthor pulled out of her hands and hopped over to him, so Bloodwraith reached down to pick up the skull, sighing as it nuzzled into his hands. He'd grown used to that, so he focused more on Danniah's argument.
"I suppose there's no harm in simply attending. But we need to keep our heads down."
"Hurray!" Danniah quickly embraced him around the waist.
As she did, Izilthor hopped up and down. "Yay!" It didn't have much of a vocabulary, but it tended to react to the mood of the room. Sighing, Bloodwraith took his Extra-dimensional bag from his waist and held it out.
"Sorry, Izilthor, but you need to go in the bag."
"Nnnn." The skull shook back and forth.
"It's the only way you'll be safe. If people see you at an event like that, they might smash you."
Though it whined some more, eventually Izilthor hopped into the bag and went back into his inventory. As far as Bloodwraith had determined, undead within the bag were completely frozen, including mental processes, so it wasn't torture. At the same time, he completely understood why Izilthor would prefer to be outside and learning - the undead had picked up his hunger for knowledge, after all.