by Sarah Lin
Bloodwraith forced himself to focus. The end goal was one of the Tier IV classes: Bone Golem, Elder Lich, and Elder Vampire. Those seemed to represent raw physical power, magical power, and speed, presuming that these "classes" matched the types of undead he knew. So he needed to choose one of those and optimize for that...
"Is me?" Izilthor waved a bony hand in the air vaguely where the box was. Though Bloodwraith felt a surge of irritation, he swallowed it and nodded.
"These boxes are about you, yes. It seems that you can transform into a new form, such as a wight, but we need to decide which one."
"What options?" Izilthor tilted its head and looked at him curiously. Though Bloodwraith had been planning to start from the end and work his way back, perhaps there was no harm in focusing on the step right ahead of him as well. That was the only one he could take now, after all.
"Well, there are six choices..." Bloodwraith began to explain the differences between Skeleton Knights, Wights, Ghouls, Zombies, Mummies, and Vampires. To his surprise, Izilthor climbed into his lap and stared where the boxes should be, frequently asking to be read things aloud.
Though it was far from what he'd wanted in an undead servant, Bloodwraith couldn't help but feel a bit proud that Izilthor had such serious curiosity, so he complied. Forcing himself to read through all the descriptions made him come to a realization. He started to consider it in his head, then decided he might as well voice his thoughts aloud to help educate Izilthor.
"It looks like there's a major divide between the six Tier II options. Three of them cost 25 Necromancy Points to choose, and while I'm not familiar with these 'mummies' they include wights and zombies, which are quite simple forms. But skeleton knights, ghouls, and vampires cost 50 Necromancy Points. That high price cannot be simply random."
Izilthor cocked its head. "More points is stronger?"
"Yes, I'm quite sure of that. The box gods love their points."
"Then choose strong!"
Reasonable enough. Bloodwraith summoned those boxes before him and examined them more closely...
[Undead Companion Class: Skeleton Knight
Requirements: Might 10+, Vitality 10+
Skeleton Knights are built from magically-reinforced bone and are capable of wielding more complex weapons more effectively. They are capable of unlocking many enhancements to strength and defense, as well as unique traits such as armor and weapons grown into bone. Skeleton Knights make for strong front line fighters but lack more specialized skills.
NOTE: This class is available for your current Undead Companion.]
[Undead Companion Class: Ghoul
Requirements: Might 10+, Quickness 10+
Ghouls are built from undead flesh and are capable of using a wider variety of weapons. They are capable of unlocking significant speed and damage enhancements and their unique traits provide a wider variety of special abilities. Ghouls make for strong support units but will not stand up to other classes in a direct fight.
NOTE: This class is available for your current Undead Companion.]
[Undead Companion Class: Vampire
Requirements: Intellect 10+, Quickness 10+
Vampires are a unique class comparable to raised humans and are capable of wielding great magic. They are capable of unlocking speed and magic enhancements and their unique traits offer abilities found nowhere else in the undead evolution tree. Vampires make for well-balanced warriors, but their true potential is not unlocked until they reach Tier IV.
NOTE: This class is available for your current Undead Companion.]
Though the requirements were listed prominently as if they might be a major barrier, thanks to Bloodwraith spending so long testing the randomized numbers of the system, they were no obstacle. It seemed likely that the box gods hadn't anticipated that he would conserve so many points, thus requiring a longer wait until promotion. For once, he had defeated the boxes' absurd restrictions.
But which path would be best to take? Skeleton Knight offered the most direct benefits, but if he was concerned with final maximized power, the boxes seemed clear that Vampires had the highest potential. That assumed that he could fully trust their judgment and that he survived long enough to see that potential realized...
As he considered the options, Bloodwraith saw that Izilthor was looking at him with a strange expression in its glowing eyes. He slowly realized that he was being very self-centered in his choices, sighed, and hoped he wouldn't regret doing the right thing.
"Which one do you want, Izilthor?"
When Izilthor's eyes lit up happily, Bloodwraith felt a strange emotion he didn't know how to place. He forced it down and tried not to think about it.
"I think these three classes are strongest, but the other three have potential to reach the same classes in the end. We can probably overcome most disadvantages by accumulating more Necromancy Points, so I think you can choose whichever one you want."
"Want body like you." Izilthor poked him in the chest with a bony finger. "Not just bones."
"Okay, so Skeleton Knight is out." He tried to keep his face neutral, hoping that Izilthor wouldn't end up asking to be human or something else absurd. Fortunately, he was pleasantly surprised.
"Like eating things. Vampires eat things?"
"No, they drink blood."
Izilthor nodded thoughtfully and he realized that it was an imitation of his own mannerisms. "Hmm. Can see self as Ghoul?"
"I... don't think so." Bloodwraith pushed his will against the boxes in case they offered anything like that, but came up with only stat projections in the new class. "But we can change almost any trait of your body once we finish the process, so I think you can choose that too."
"Good!" Izilthor hopped off his lap and clapped its hands together. "Want Ghoul."
It wasn't a bad decision, all in all. As far as he could tell it was one of the stronger classes, the supportive nature of its role matched Izilthor's base traits, and the Ghoul class had options for promotion into powerful classes, including lich.
"Then get ready, because I'll select the trait..."
To his surprise, the instant he selected it, Izilthor crumpled to the ground. Bloodwraith leapt to its side, worried that he had violated some hidden rule, but then he felt the surge of necromancy. Izilthor's box revealed that the 50 NP had been spent on the new class, and now the power those points represented was surging through the skeleton.
As he watched, gray flesh began to emerge around the bones. It didn't grow very quickly, so it seemed that the process would take some time. That meant there would be no transformations in the middle of battle, which was a good limitation to learn now. Bloodwraith moved Izilthor so it was lying on its back in a position that looked more comfortable, then stared down at it.
Why did this process take time when the necromancy skill could make skeletons pop out of the ground? Though he was tempted to dismiss it as another absurd whim of the boxes, Bloodwraith considered another possibility.
The box gods sneered at normal concepts such as conservation of matter or the balance of magic, but they didn't ignore power. Creating skeletons was simple because they were fragile beings with little power. But the boxes required the sacrifice of many lives in order to increase his Level, and he didn't think that was purely arbitrary. The death energy was actually required, and in the same way, maybe time and energy were required now that Izilthor was gaining something closer to real strength.
Bloodwraith sat down nearby and pulled out the case of necromancy equipment again. Yet he struggled to focus, finding himself looking up at Izilthor's body periodically. When he heard Meara's footsteps approaching, he was glad for the distraction.
"We have a situation." She started speaking when she came in without a single greeting, but didn't look seriously concerned. "Specifically, we have a Gharavi."
"You captured her?"
"No, we negotiated with her. I think she might be on our side, but obviously I wanted you to check her before we showed her our
location. So Danniah is waiting with her in one of those caves some distance from here."
As Bloodwraith hastily packed up the necromancy case, Meara explained their confrontation and the revelations within it. Though Bloodwraith would not personally have risked so much, he trusted that Meara had judged the situation properly. Gharavi could have left him to die at Raigar's hands, after all, so they had already depended on her to a degree.
When it came time to leave, however, Bloodwraith hesitated. Izilthor was vulnerable lying there on the stone, and though they had set up some defenses on the first level, there were still many undead roaming lower in the crypt. After going back and forth on the issue, Bloodwraith bent down and lifted the growing body in his arms.
Meara's lips twitched, but she suppressed whatever she was thinking and asked a different question. "I take it your necromancy developed enough for you to change Izilthor's form?"
"The boxes granted the capacity. It is frustrating, but it appears to be the door to new power." Bloodwraith shook his head. "But that is a long term concern. For now, we need to focus on Gharavi."
His primary question was whether everything could be a convoluted method of earning their trust. The woman he had caught a glimpse of underneath the barbarian exterior might be capable of something truly devious. He even considered whether or not she might be working with Raigar, but decided that required too many strange assumptions. Any goals they could have, there would have been easier ways to accomplish them.
Though he and Meara discussed strategy on their way, the only real option seemed to be to approach the conversation with cautious openness. If Gharavi was really someone else who knew that Outsiders were manipulating their world, then she could be a very useful ally. Of course, the last person they'd met who'd learned of that had been Daek the Knife, who did not exactly take it well...
When they approached the cave Bloodwraith increased his pace, only for Meara to hold him back with a touch on the shoulder.
"Are you going to walk into sensitive negotiations carrying a skeleton seething with undead flesh?"
"That... does seem less than polite." Bloodwraith stopped, trying to consider what to do, but Meara stepped up to take Izilthor's body from him.
"I'll take care of him. I already talked to Gharavi, and I'll be close enough that I can join in if it's necessary."
"Very well, but... be careful with Izilthor."
Meara smirked at him. "How could I disappoint such a doting father?"
"Silence, wench!"
Their exchange complete, Bloodwraith turned toward the cave with lighter steps.
Though he'd hoped to observe the situation first, the fact that he cast a shadow into the cave made that impossible, so they were waiting for him. Not ideal from his point of view, but his allies weren't stupid, so it might have been a concession that Gharavi required. When he stepped inside, he saw that she was wearing the black armor he had seen during the battle, not her false rags.
She began by folding her arms across her chest and frowning at him. "Your companions implied that you're not an Outsider, but your magical signature suggests that you are. Why should I believe anything you have to say?"
Not an unreasonable question, but one intended to put him off balance. He refused to play that game and instead regarded her coolly from within his helm. "Glad to hear you aren't speaking in such an absurdly broken fashion."
"It's realistic for uneducated half-orcs!" Gharavi let out a huff and then shook her head. "Did you make an ignorant assumption, or do you have unnatural powers that helped you figure it out?"
"An absurd dichotomy. Believe me, I am an expert on acting less intelligent than one truly is. You can mask your speech, but not your reactions."
"Umm..." Danniah looked back and forth between them in consternation. "Please don't argue... I really think that we can all be on the same side here..."
Her attempt might have been simplistic, but Bloodwraith realized that Danniah was correct. He reined in his irritation, took a deep breath, and decided on a direct approach. "Just over ten years ago, an Outsider named Raigar came to our world, playing at being an adventurer. He destroyed the Master Lich. He also attempted to destroy me, but he failed."
Gharavi's eyes widened and her body went still. "Then... is that why he wants to recover your body?"
"Exactly." Bloodwraith smiled, pleased that she understood so quickly. "This body is a vessel that the Outsiders created for one of their own to interact with our world. It contains within it a system of great power... and great absurdity. I have been wrestling with it since we switched bodies, with mixed success. But the fact that the real Raigar is still alive makes things much more complicated."
"Yes, I see that. What's your real name?"
"Bloodwraith."
"I know that was your ti... wait." Gharavi gave him a disappointed look. "Is that seriously the name you chose for yourself?"
Bloodwraith fumed while Danniah laughed. "Don't worry, you get used to it!"
"I suppose." Fortunately, Gharavi didn't let such a minor detail distract her from more important matters. She stepped up to him, a smile on her face. "You have knowledge that I could never have discovered in years of research! What is it like to be inside such an artificial construct?"
"Bizarre." Bloodwraith folded his arms over his chest, unsure where to even begin. "The Outsiders are clearly insane, obsessed with death, irritated by complexity and yet enamored with rules and numbers. You seriously cannot overestimate how much of their system of power involves tedious accounting."
"Hmm. Perhaps our world is confusing to them, so they render it in objective terms in order to simplify their experience?"
"I had exactly the same thought." Despite how she had mocked him earlier, Bloodwraith found himself smiling. Gharavi was a worthwhile person to have met. "Living in this body is actually less useful than you might expect. Just meeting Raigar has ruined many of my theories."
"But it does grant you power, correct? The test I developed for Outsiders triggered strongly when you first entered the Savages Guild, and your abilities seem strange. I am no expert in the Wolf's Fang, but your development struck me as accelerated in some ways and limited in others."
"Yes, I am restricted by the bounds of a system of... boxes. Endless boxes." Impressed that she had discerned so much about him, Bloodwraith decided that he should prove himself as well. He knew much more about her, perhaps the boxes could grant him information now...
[Name: Gharavi
Race: Half-Orc/Half-???
Class: Sorcerer
Health: 166/166
Mana: 87/87
Stamina: 151/151
Level: 16
EXP: ???
Affection: 26/100
Statistics:
Might: 19
Vitality: 22
Quickness: 36
Intellect: 45
Charisma: 20
Willpower: 31
Wisdom: 24
Luck: 15
Piety: 12
Skills: Lightning Bolt, ???
Proficiencies: ???
Inventory: Axe Staff, ???]
Just as he had hoped: now that his intuitions were basically right, the boxes filled in the rest. He saw how she could pass for a barbarian, since she did have considerable Might and Vitality, even if not equal to that of himself or Danniah. But she had an excellent distribution of statistics for a combat sorcerer, particularly that Intellect... even though it was just an arbitrary number, Bloodwraith found himself liking her on the basis of that alone.
That was interesting to him, but not immediately relevant. He glanced at her armor, which was quality but unremarkable, and then his eyes reached the bone necklace that hung from her neck. No box at all appeared at first, yet his other senses told him it mattered. Bloodwraith reached toward it-
Gharavi grabbed his wrist. "Just what are you doing?"
"Your necklace... that's what you use to sense Outsiders, isn't it?"
"That's
correct." Gharavi's expression softened when she understood his intention, but she still pushed his hand away before she picked up the woven bones. "I thought I made it with almost no enchantment so that it wouldn't attract attention, but you noticed right away. Did you observe me using it, or could your other senses detect it?"
"Not exactly either. It should have a box, but it doesn't."
"What now?"
"The boxes that Bloodwraith sees describe everything for him," Danniah explained cheerfully. "I think the Outsiders get confused by everything, so they need labels on everything so they don't forget."
He nodded in agreement, then gestured toward Gharavi's axe, careful not to move his hands too close to her this time. "For example, when I concentrate on your weapon, I see a display in my vision that quantifies it in a variety of ways..."
[Custom Axe Staff
Special Traits: Intellect +5, Lightning Damage +17%, Accuracy +39%
Damage: 13-14
Weapon Mana: 21/21
Durability: 17/20
Rarity: Custom (Rare-level quality)]
"Yes, it works fine. For example, it says that it increases 'Lightning Damage' by 17%."
Gharavi's eyebrows rose. "Fascinating. I did indeed craft it in order to enhance my lightning spells, but I couldn't have told you it was 17%... how is that calculated, anyway? Because I made it to partially speed up the casting of the spell, partially to increase raw power, partially to improve efficiency. How does all of that become a single number?"
Bloodwraith waved her questions away. "The boxes are not concerned with nuance. But accepting their limitations, the numbers are extremely reliable. They would be stories for another time, but I have made life or death decisions based on the numbers displayed." He frowned as he stared at the necklace again. "But your necklace refuses to divulge any information."
"So it falls outside their vision? Curious."
"I am impressed that you crafted such a thing. You are truly a sorcerer of great skill."
Though he was simply stating the truth, Gharavi almost flinched at his statement, then looked away. "You're too kind. I still have a great deal I want to attain."
"That may be, but for now, we have much more to discuss. Can I presume that we are allies now?"