by Aleron Kong
The light sped forward for fifty feet and affixed itself to a wall. Richter cast Far Light several more times, but at an angle, affixing the balls to the walls of the tunnel. Then he cast Simple Light and climbed into the hole. He gave a psychic order to the saproling and adder, sending them ahead of him. Alma wanted to scout too, but he kept her on his shoulders. There was no knowing what was ahead of them. Richter hadn’t come across anything that could have detected Futen before. Though he didn’t want to sacrifice either the saproling or the snake unnecessarily, if something bad was going to happen, he wanted it to happen to them, not him or Alma.
Richter waited until his commanded creatures were twenty feet ahead, then he climbed into the hole himself. The tunnel beyond was a mix of stone walls and earthen floor. The air was stale, and he caught the faint scent of rot and damp, but it wasn’t overpowering. He drew his frost sword from his back sheath and left his other hand free for casting.
Richter reasoned that Futen couldn’t have been too far away if he was just stuck somehow. Originally, the remnant had only been able to travel one hundred yards away from him if they weren’t at the village. That distance had more than doubled in the time since he had become Master of the village, but Futen still couldn’t travel too far on his own. Of course, that might not matter if something else had captured him, but Richter would cross that bridge if and when he came to it.
He reached his first light and saw that the tunnel curved to the right. Richter cast Far Light several more times. This segment of the tunnel only went straight for about another twenty feet. Richter sent his summoned creature ahead with the snake again and followed afterward. The impromptu party followed that pattern for the next five minutes. Richter grew concerned after they had traveled more than three hundred yards from the entrance to the dungeon. Something had happened to Futen.
A few minutes later, the tunnel leveled out, and they reached a large cavern. Unlike the natural and irregular stone of the tunnel, this room was clearly man-made. For the first time since entering the dungeon, Richter didn’t need to cast Far Light to see. Two large braziers hung from the ceiling and inside of each burned bright, blue flames. In their light, Richter had no difficulty seeing the figure that was holding Futen.
It was a humanoid dressed in black armor. It stood six feet tall, and a large axe hung from its back. Its helmet was held in one hand, making it easy to see that whatever it was, it was no longer alive. The face was gaunt and wizened. Moldy holes pockmarked the head in places, and on its scalp, yellowed bone even peeked through in places. That didn’t stop it from standing upright, though. A well-defined burn stretched across its face in the shape of a handprint. What captured Richter’s attention though was that in its other hand, it held Futen.
A nimbus of purple, black light surrounded the remnant. A writhing tether of the same color extended from the grey sphere and led to the undead thing’s open mouth. Pulses of light flowed regularly from Futen towards the figure. In just a few seconds it took to take this all in, Richter could see that Futen’s light was dimming with each pulse of light. The fucking thing was feeding on him!
“Let him go, motherfucker!” Richter shouted.
Name: Decaemur Knight Disposition: Angry
A Decaemur Knight is a dangerous enemy. They are often employed by stronger undead to lead weaker units. Decaemur knights can utilize both magical and martial skills, though they normally specialize in melee combat. A true knight leads a retinue and decaemur knights take this to the extreme, often enslaving fallen victims to serve them even after death. Wounds caused by these knights have a high likelihood of becoming necrotic.
Level: 37
Health: 387/510 Mana: 283/360 Stamina: 251/480
Strength: 31 (46)
Agility: 16 (31)
Dexterity: 15 (32)
Constitution: 51
Endurance: 48
Intelligence: 36
Wisdom: 21
Charisma: 12
Luck: 12
Richter didn’t understand what the parentheses meant, but as he watched, the knight’s Strength, Agility, and Dexterity rose by one. The damn thing was getting stronger. Feeding off of Futen must be restoring it somehow. A few seconds after Richter shouted at it, the knight turned its head and glared at him. The tether broke, but Futen remained trapped in the purple-black nimbus of Death magic. The undead’s eyes glowed with an inner light, and it spoke in a powerful and scathing voice.
“YOU DARE INTERRUPT MY MEAL? I HAVE BEEN GUARDING THIS PORTAL FOR CENTURIES, LOWERING MYSELF TO FEED UPON THE VERMIN AND WEAK SOULS THAT PASS THROUGH THIS CAVERN. NOW YOU WOULD DARE TO STOP MY FEEDING? I WILL CONSUME THIS THING, AND THEN I WILL TEAR YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR PATHETIC BODY!”
Richter glared back at it, “Or maybe I’ll just kill you, then skull fuck you. Then leave a note here that I skull fucked a decaemur knight. That’s another option. What do you think?”
The undead monster blinked in complete surprise, and even in death looked completely shocked. It could never have conceived of a human coming into its lair and talking shit. Well, Richter thought, I’m an American. We give zero fux about anything. With that profound mission statement ringing in his mind, he sent a mental command, *Attack!*
The saproling let loose a screeching roar and bounded towards the knight. The snake started slithering faster than Richter would have thought possible towards his enemy as well. Alma launched into the air and cast Weak Haste on herself before launching herself forward.
The three-pronged attack shook the undead fighter out of its stupor. It let go of Futen, who unfortunately still stayed immobilized in the field of necrotic light, and immediately began weaving one hand in an incantation while it shouted guttural words of magic. With its other hand, it placed its helmet on and then freed the axe from its back. Before any of the attackers had crossed even half the distance of the long hall, the knight finished his casting. A ball of purple-black light shot forward ten feet and hovered for a moment before exploding and shooting in multiple directions. None of the light struck Richter’s three helpers. Instead, it struck the walls, ceiling, and floor before disappearing. Maybe that’s all that will happen, Richter thought with false hope. Of course, that was when the whole frakking room started shaking.
A low, moaning wail filled the chamber. Ethereal creatures started floating into the room from where the purple light had struck. Five, then ten, and finally fourteen ghostlike figures phased into being. To make matters worse, the light had awakened more than just specters. In three different places, bony hands shot up from the floor, displacing the flagstones. Skeletons rose from the ground, and not the simple collections of bones Richter had fought in the past. These bones were thicker than they should have been for human remains and sharp projections rose from their flexor joints. Bony thorns stuck out of their elbows and knees and capped each finger. When balls of purple light started glowing in their eye sockets, Richter thought, Enough already! You’re badass. We get it!
The snake and saproling continued on to attack the knight despite the massive amount of reinforcements it had summoned. Alma showed much more wisdom. She slowed down and started casting as many buffs as she could, namely: Minor Life Armor and Minor Life Aura. A golden nimbus surrounded the dragonling as she swooped in to attack the specters. The small but nimble creature dived towards a knot of ghosts and unleashed a new spell, Weak Banish Undead. One of the ghosts winked out of existence. Alma trumpeted her success and flew off to attack the next one.
Richter didn’t even notice the effectiveness of the spell. His sole focus was on casting his Spirit spell. Since ordering the attack, he had been casting Weak Aura Lance. The spell had a long cast time of ten seconds, but Richter had a feeling that the decaemur knight was no ordinary enemy. The fact that the knight had summoned almost a full score of minions further underscored that truth.
Waves of black and gold power rose off of him as he dual cast the spell. The energy focused in front of him, beginning as a small sphere. A
s he continued to cast, the sphere grew larger. When he was only a few seconds into the incantation, Richter realized that this casting was much easier than when he had used the spell against the rock giant. When he had tried it last time, Richter had felt buffeted by various emotions and concerns. The spell had resisted him. This time, it was much easier, the movement and words flowing with greater alacrity. He could only think that it was thanks to Alma’s mental training. Richter focused on his objective and kept chanting.
The saproling was fighting the decaemur knight. The two were battling fiercely. The knight swung his axe with two hands at the forest creature. The saproling responded to the attack instantly. As soon as the weapon moved towards it, the forest creature stopped its forward movement and changed direction on a dime, springing to the side. The motion seemed almost impossible, but its powerful six legs let it dodge the attack. Fangs out, it swiped at the knight, its thorn claws screeching across the knight’s armor, but failing to do any serious damage. The knight swung again, and this time, the saproling ducked under the blow. The fight continued.
While this was going on, the adder struck at the specters weaving around it. The snake struck faster than the eye could follow. With its mouth agape, it impacted an ethereal being and passed right through it! Before the snake could even withdraw, the specter counterattacked. Though the snake didn’t seem to be able to harm the ghosts, the spirits had no such limitation. Its bony hand struck the snake’s back making a small gouge in the tamed animal’s scaled skin. Red blood leaked down from the wound, and the edges of the cut began to blacken. The snake drew back, but before the animal could do anything, ten more ghosts descended. The adder started writhing on the ground as ghostly claws started taking its life away in a hell of a thousand cuts.
Alma was doing her best to help, but the banishing spell had a cooldown of five minutes and so couldn’t be cast again until that elapsed. Luckily, she found out that her very body was now a weapon. Some of the ghosts had immediately converged on her, flying through the air to attack. When their hands came into contact with her glowing body, though, they wailed and pulled back, unable to tolerate the Life magic surrounding her. Smiling a draconian smile, she dive bombed through the bodies of the ghosts attacking the adder, while simultaneously casting Weak Slow Heal on the snake.
Just before Richter finished his spell, the lion saproling showed the importance of summoning higher level creatures. The three skeletons had fully emerged from the ground, and they were converging on the forest elemental. The decaemur knight had managed to score a blow against the outnumbered saproling, but it wasn’t enough to hinder the creature. With a powerful jump of all six legs, the lion leapt twenty feet away and then whipped it head around to look at the knight. A yowling roar shook the hall, and a green glow enveloped the saproling’s body. Green vines shot up in a five-foot radius with the knight in the center. They wrapped around the legs of two of the skeletons and the undead summoner, temporarily rooting them in place.
With a final shouted word of Power, Richter finished his spell. The basketball-sized sphere shot forward. It was black as a moonless midnight one minute and then and a ball of molten gold the next. The sphere lengthened into a javelin that struck the knight in its chest. Immobilized as it was, the knight had no chance to evade. Just as with the rock giant, its skin broke into countless pieces which floated up and dissipated. Afterwards, the knight looked the same, but Richter could see the vines holding it climbed a bit further up the undead fighter’s legs. The saproling dove in again and hit the remaining free skeleton with a flying leap. The two went down in a rolling pile, several yards away from the knight and the other two skeletons.
Now that his casting was done, Richter wanted to know more what he was facing. He used Analyze on the knight’s summoned creatures.
Name: Decaemur Ghost Disposition: Angry
A Decaemur Ghost is a low-level specter. Its ability to deal damage is minor, but when it strikes wounds often become necrotic. The ethereal nature of this being lets it ignore mundane physical damage.
Level: 6
Health: 130 Mana: 40 Stamina: 110
Strength: 12
Agility: 12
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 13
Endurance: 11
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 2
Luck: 10
Name: Decaemur Skeleton Disposition: Angry
A Decaemur Skeleton is the infantry soldier. They have bones of greater density than normal skeletons and are equipped with natural weapons in the form of bony knobs.
Level: 12
Health: 220 Mana: 10 Stamina: 280
Strength: 17
Agility: 16
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 22
Endurance: 28
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charisma: 4
Luck: 10
Neither the skeletons nor the ghosts posed any real danger to Richter individually, but the knight was a potentially serious threat. The three bound enemies were already pulling themselves free from vines. Looking around, he quickly assessed the situation. The saproling had pulled one of the skeleton’s arms free and was now savaging the other. The leaves that covered it had turned black in large swaths, but that only appeared to enrage the forest elemental.
Alma was flying through the ghosts, causing small amounts of continual damage. The snake, though, was looking the worse for wear. It bled from countless cuts. Richter decided to aid his tamed animal. Running forward, he cast Weak Life Aura on the snake and also cast Weak Slow Heal. The adder had just been lying in a defensive coil, but Richter ordered it to attack again. Obedient to its master, the snake raised its head and shot its head towards a ghost. Unlike the last time, the ghost reared back from the adder’s attack. With a hiss of animalistic vengeance, the snake laid into any ghost it could find.
Richter turned his attention to the knight. The skeletons were still bound fairly tightly, but the knight was almost free. “Where you going, bitch?” Richter called out. The knight looked at him, the flames in its purple eyes dancing in anger. Richter cast Grease.
All three bound figures fell. Not giving them a chance to recover, Richter released his stored spell, Weak Rending Talons. A swirling maelstrom of claws sprung into being and started damaging the prone undead. Not done, Richter cast one more spell. He shouted, “IGNO!” and a gout of orange flame shot from his hand. The grease caught fire and a ten-by-ten foot area caught flame, burning all within. The knight had been able to ignore the talon spell, but as with all undead, it reacted badly to fire. A strained yell came from the undead summoner.
Leaving them for the moment, Richter drew both swords and threw himself at the ghosts. As with the first time he had tried dual wielding two blades, he felt off balance and unsure. The emotional flood from using Spirit Magic wasn’t helping, but his new Self-Awareness skill kept the worst of it at bay. Richter rushed forward, concerned that his blades would not have an effect on the non-corporeal spirits, but oh boy, was he wrong!
The sonic blade cut into the first ghost and not only did damage, but it also left a rent in its ethereal body! He followed up with another overhand chop with his ice-enchanted blade. The result was just as spectacular as the first blow. Another ghost struck him from behind, but between the weakness of the attack and the quality of his armor he was able to shrug it off with only a point or two of health being lost. Richter spun into the sword form Samara Seed Falling, both blades held out, one hundred and eighty degrees to each other. One blade finished the ghost he had been attacking while the other cut two more decaemur spirits that had the misfortune of being inside of his attack radius. Alma finished off one of those with Weak Life Bolt, and the third drifted off. Master and familiar shared a triumphant look.
*I think I can finish this off, my love. Let’s not waste the souls though!*
*I will take care of it, master,* she thought gleefully.
> Richter laid into any spirit he could reach, and Alma flew above casting Soul Trap again and again. The adder continued to help with its Life magic enhanced body. Once she had cast the spell on all the ghosts, Alma flew over to the almost dismantled skeleton the saproling had been fighting and cast Soul Trap again. With things well in hand, she attached herself to the skeleton and used Brain Drain, quickly stealing its remaining HPs. Everything was going great until the knight shouted, “ENOUGH OF THIS!”
Richter looked over towards the grease fire and saw that the knight had managed to roll free. The flames had been great at damaging the undead, but they had also weakened the magical roots that had held the knight in place. Despite the fact that it was still burning and coated with grease, the undead summoner stood tall. It wove its fingers into a particular configuration and purple light coalesced around its arms. Not sure what to expect, Richter finished the ghost he was fighting and raised both swords. Again, neither he nor the nonhuman members of his party were the target’s of the knight’s spell.
Instead, the purple light on its arms shot out in tethers to the remaining summoned dead. The ropes of Death magic looked just like the one it had connected to Futen, and it drew the remaining energy from the skeletons and the ghosts into itself. Multiple swirls of rainbow light wove through the air and into Richter’s bag, but he barely noticed. All he could focus on was the knight as it restored itself to its full glory.
The damn thing had grown six inches! Richter used Analyze again and saw that all of its stats had risen to full power. Also, its health, mana, and stamina were completely restored. Even the flames had gone out. It walked wide around the still-burning grease fire and started towards Richter. The saproling and adder took up positions on either side of him, and Alma floated above, staring coldly at the knight. Richter downed several potions, then brought both swords up, waiting for the thing’s next move.