Gloominess +2: Congregation. A LitRPG series: Book 2

by Elian Tars

  I tensed up. That element had a very promising name. Something told me that the term “element” wasn’t really appropriate, but I banished the thought. Still, my Twilight wasn’t really an element either, so I clearly shouldn’t use Earth’s terminology in a different world.

  But still, Death… It was exactly as I thought; my three elements and this one… It all fit! There were no Gods with such specializations.

  We were playing for a totally different team; the one that had been destroyed once.

  “The unlocked skills allowed me to bring Mara back from the dead. Back then she was a walking corpse. I spent a lot of time mastering my skills and becoming much stronger. But as our Patron has noticed, there’s an obstacle in my path,” the young man said casually. Mara, who had been acting as an obedient Japanese wife, couldn’t stand it anymore and, jumping to her feet, pressed his head to her chest.

  “Mara is a very sensitive and intelligent person,” I remarked. She chuckled and stuck her tongue out at me for some reason. “Do you think that you could make her more…” I waved my hand, trying to find the right word, “…alive?”

  Kane turned to her and said: “Show him, please.”

  She frowned and shook her head.

  “Don’t be ashamed, show him. It will be easier that way.”

  “You’re cruel men,” she grunted. “You’re making a poor girl do nasty things.”

  She stood up and lifted her robe up to her chest. She was wearing brown pants and boots, but Kane didn’t make her do that just so that I could stare under her robes.

  I had already seen a lot in this dark world, so I contained myself and didn’t grimace as that would’ve upset her even more though there was a reason to crinkle your nose; some people might’ve even gotten sick to their stomach. As it turned out, half of the poor girl’s abdomen was missing. Instead of it was a hole covered with a crust.

  “That’s enough, Mara,” Kane said warmly, waving her to sit down.

  I was in utter bewilderment. As the girl sat down, I asked another question.

  “You said that she lived for twelve hours after getting wounded. With that wound?”

  Kane let out a heavy sigh, but answered in a calm voice.

  “The wound was smaller. But since I brought her back as a Highest Wight and returned her personality back to her, the wound started getting bigger. Death is a very complicated element. First of all, you have to confine energy in bodies that are unable to produce it. Simple movements and animal instincts don’t consume as much energy as keeping their humanity does. I lack the strength to keep Mara a hundred percent alive so her body is slowly decaying.”

  “Wait!” I shook my head. “So what if it’s decaying? You said that you could kill her and recreate her again, didn’t you?”

  “That’s true,” Kane nodded. “Even if she’s burned, I would be able to recreate her. But the wound won’t go anywhere. Well, enough about that. As for your other questions... Mara, my assistants, and I have come to the source for the third time already. Just like the last two times, I couldn’t understand where exactly it was being hidden. I can sense the world,” he spread his arms, “within half a mile in any direction. But I can sense sources within three. But when I get to that place, I wander in circles till the Decay arrived. But today, when I felt you approaching, I decided to hide and observe. And, as it turned out, that was the right thing to do. I wasn’t sure before if such bits of energy would be useful for my development, but I knew that I had to do something else to help Mara and that I wouldn’t be able to do it without your, pardon, our Patron. Having agreed to become his Disciple, I got access to an additional element — Darkness. The most important thing is that my bond with Death became much stronger, too,” he exhaled and stretched on the grass. “And now excuse me, but I’d like to take a nap.” Mara cuddled beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

  Looking at the couple, I shook my head. Their relationship was as strong as it was strange. However, I dreaded to even imagine myself in Kane’s shoes — to reject the world, but not betray your beloved; to curse your Goddess and wake up the ancient powers within you, that was worth admiring. I could even turn a blind eye on the guy being a little bit nuts; we were all crazy in some way anyway.

  I was glad that the Old Man recruited new Followers. I was fine with my new ally. But I had to keep my eyes open with this couple.

  But for now, I could allow myself some rest. I was terribly tired.

  Chapter 16

  Ilyenta

  I slept till late evening, snuggling against Vella’s warm coat. I had no dreams at all; it was as if my brain had been switched off. I woke up to the smell of roast meat.

  Turning my head, I met my dog’s gaze; she had been wanting to stretch her legs for some time now, but didn’t want to disturb her master. I smiled, scratched her neck and stood up.

  Kane had roasted some meat over the fire, and it was the best meal I’ve had in the last month. Only the necromancer and I ate the cooked meat, the others ate it raw.

  I couldn’t help but ask if Mara really didn’t want to try the char-grilled delicacy, generously sprinkled with seasoning. I wondered where the necromancer had gotten it.

  “Do you really care about that?” the zombie chuckled. “It tastes good to me this way. Oh, the pleasant feeling of ripping fresh meat with your teeth…” she licked her lips.

  Kane explained that if you didn’t feed the Wights, it would be even more difficult to maintain the necessary amount of energy in them. Moreover, they could only digest raw meat, as other food had negative effects on them. Though, they could drink water.

  “And a little bit of wine,” Mara added.

  Once we had finished the dinner, two shabby bats, holding pieces of wood, flew down from the darkened sky.

  “He told you to make an Altar?” I asked. Kane nodded, turning one of the pieces in his hands. The necromancer closed his eyes; the piece of wood changed its color to a cold-blue.

  “Altar of Death”

  His eyes moved back and forth and his mouth stretched in a predatory smile. Kane had taken a look at his new abilities and he definitely liked them.

  Once he made an Altar of Darkness, I asked him to tell more about how exactly he sensed the surrounding energy. Overcoming his laziness, he told me that the closer the energy source was, the clearer he perceived it. In other words, at the maximum level of his sensory abilities — within half a mile radius of him — he could “see” ten people as, let’s say, a bluish cloud. However, if they were within a couple of hundred yards away from him, then each would show up as a blurred, humanoid silhouette; within a hundred yards the figures would be even more clear; and if they came closer than fifty yards, Kane would be able to see even their approximate levels.

  It was more difficult with animals and birds, because they were mostly smaller in size than a regular human, and in order to see each member of the flock or pack separately, they had to be even closer.

  “That’s why I use my friends,” he said calmly, stroking the bat that was sitting on his head.

  “It’s impossible to catch Kane and me off guard,” Mara said proudly.

  This necromancer was an amazing person. Our levels weren’t that apart, but it seemed that his abilities were far more superior to mine. How many zombies did Kane have? I bet that he could’ve coped with twelve Frogs faster than me. Speaking of Decay… Just like me, Kane had a partial immunity to it, and his Wights were completely immune because they were dead. At least my Tranquility of Darkness would keep the necromancer from doing anything rash in case the Old Man doesn’t meet the fellow’s expectations.

  “Oh, it looks like the Decayed decided to attack someone!” Mara said unexpectedly. I started looking around, sensing no danger in our vicinity. Had there been any, Vella would have sprang to her feet and growled, but she was calmly chewing on a huge thigh bone.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, turning to her.

  “Exactly what I’ve just said,” she snor
ted. “Why else would these creatures gather in a group and walk vigorously in one direction?”

  At first I didn’t understand what she was talking about, but I soon realized.

  “You can connect with other Wights like Kane?”

  “Easily!” she said smugly.

  I shifted my gaze to the necromancer; it was easier to talk to him than to his rotten girlfriend.

  “Where are they going? What kind of group is that?”

  The guy sighed heavily. For a few seconds he was throwing his head back and rolling his eyes so hard that I had almost stopped seeing his pupils. What a creepy sight.

  “They are those decayed bastards,” Kane said languidly a couple of seconds later, “that followed us this morning and were deceived by our Patron. Having lost our trail, they wandered through the lands of Decay. Then they stopped, waited for reinforcement, and are now heading south-east.”

  Connecting to his crow, he could not only watch the events unfold in real-time, but also see what had already happened? That was a very convenient skill. It was a pity that I had almost no sensor abilities; if Kane decided to watch me I wouldn’t notice his spies, as had happened during the battle with the Frogs.

  I should stop being paranoid. We were allies now after all.

  I took out my map and unfolded it.

  “Man, that’s old,” looking over my shoulder, Mara was in a hurry to give her assessment. “Kane, dear, why don’t you lend him a pencil? He could at least mark the right borders of Decay.”

  “I have a pencil,” I replied. But the girl was right — I should have marked the correct borders long ago, but I didn’t have time for drawing. Besides, the Decay was constantly spreading, and I was capable of keeping mental notes of the changes that I had seen. “Are they moving in this direction?” I asked the necromancer, pointing with my finger at a small spot marked Ilyenta, which was apparently a small settlement.

  Kane rolled his eyes again, connecting to the zombie-crow’s receptors. This time we had to wait a little bit longer.

  “I guess so,” coming to, Kane nodded. “I didn’t notice any people or anyone they could pursue. It seems like the Decayed are really going beyond the Territory of Decay. To this village.”

  “But why would they?” I pondered without noticing that I asked the question aloud.

  “What do you mean, ‘why’?” Mara rolled her eyes. “For energy, why else?!”

  I looked attentively at the haughty zombie. Deciding not to beat around the bush, I asked her to explain.

  “Do you really not know such basic things?” she smirked. “You’re such a-…”

  “Mara, enough,” Kane fondly put his hand on her shoulder. “I, too, didn’t know that until I began feeling energies.” The necromancer turned to me. “Energy is everywhere, Bale. I’ve already told you that,” he sighed heavily, apparently too lazy to explain. “In short, energy flows in animals, people, plants… Out of their bodies and into the world and then again into their bodies and so on. But in the Decayed it just, hmm… Rots and disappears. That’s why the Decay is constantly spreading, it needs resources; it can’t produce itself.”

  “Wait,” I frowned, “won’t it die of hunger if it consumes the whole world one day?”

  Kane spread his hands, making it clear that he had nothing else to add. We didn’t really have the time to talk about the philosophical issues of this world’s order.

  I stood up and stretched my neck. The couple watched me intently, waiting for further instructions. I decided to be direct.

  “Does anybody mind going to Ilyenta?”

  “Why do you want to go there?” Kane asked apathetically, getting up from the ground. “To take a look? Or…?”

  “Can we cope with them?” I asked, realizing that he knew very well what I meant.

  “We can; with the use of your Light attack.”

  “And without it?” The Altar of Light hadn’t recharged yet, and my reserve of lives had been depleted.

  “It would be difficult,” he sighed. “But we’ll be able to do it.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” I smiled and approached Vella.

  I wasn’t that big of a nice guy to save everyone, but I couldn’t just leave helpless people to die without feeling pangs of guilt. Having personal profit as your motivation surely helped make some of the decisions. Having your altruistic and rational side work together also helped reach the desired goal.

  “Bale!” Kane had to shout to make himself heard. The whistling of the wind and the sound of the hooves hitting the ground were deafening. “I’m not pleased to ask this, but could you not finish the Decayed off during the fight?”

  I tensed up. I didn’t plan on finishing anyone off, but the question was strange to put it mildly.

  The necromancer interpreted my silence in his own way and made a wry face. He didn’t like talking much.

  “The Altar of Death needs to take other people’s lives. I need it. For further growth.”

  So that was it! Well that made sense. His method was the polar opposite of mine. I had to save lives, while Kane had to take them. If we could’ve filled both Altars with the same type of opponents we would’ve made the perfect team!

  “Okay!” I answered.

  It took us about an hour to get to Ilyenta. Once we’ve reached it, it had already gotten pretty dark. I ordered that we stop about a hundred yards away from the village, jumped down from Vella’s back and cast Tranquility of Darkness on all of us once again.

  During the ride, Kane watched everything through his zombie-crow’s eyes, and we knew what was happening in the village. I had a pretty good plan, but we couldn’t be late.

  Part of the wooden fence that surrounded the village had been swept away, and we got inside pretty easily. There were holes in the walls of the nearest houses. Peeking into one of them, I saw a woman in a blood-stained dress with a ripped abdomen. Turning away, I hurried forward.

  Very soon we started to come across houses with wide-opened doors; while the creatures of Decay were busy killing people who lived on the edge of the village, the rest had enough time to hide somewhere that was relatively safe. Not everybody managed to do that apparently; bloodied dead bodies with the grimaces of horror frozen on their faces were lying on the streets.

  Even from afar we could hear screams, moans and threatening growling. As we got closer, we could make out the disgusting sound of clacking mandibles. Turning round the corner of a two-storied building, we saw a crowd of the Decayed, assaulting a rectangular, wooden building that looked like a shed.

  “Not long now…” Kane said in an even tone, watching how they, having surrounded the temple of Karus, the God of Household, struggled to get inside. “A few seconds...”

  To increase their efficiency, the creatures climbed each other, but even with that tactics not everyone in the horde found a place in the front line. Some of them stood aside, enraged and impatient. They were the one who noticed us; roaring with glee, they rushed to fight us.

  “Vella, sic them!” I commanded.

  “Grrrr!!!” my pretty girl replied, running to intercept the Decayed Wolves, Spiders and Bears. In a blink of an eye, she defeated the most zealous of the monsters with a few quick blows. No surprise there as creatures had the average level twenty.

  “Daerk, they’re going to break through now,” Kane said calmly, feeling that the energy barrier that protected the temple was near its end.

  Daerk… That sounded nice. I just had to get accustomed to my new name. “Dark warrior Daerk” was a good nickname in my opinion. It was a pity that I had to say goodbye to “Secretive Bale”, but it was too well-known by now; Baron Tsunter’s people were definitely looking for a man with that name. My future plans called for a name change anyway.

  “Fight!” I commanded, banishing the unnecessary thoughts.

  The next moment, all hell broke loose. Kane and Mara simultaneously attacked the enemy with rays of energy. As per their agreement, they didn’t try to kill one speci
fic beast, but to wound several of them. They didn’t deal much damage, but they attracted the attention of the beasts that had just broken through the barrier.

  Together with the barrier, the wooden walls fell under the monsters’ attack. How the temple, mottled with holes made by teeth, hadn’t tumbled down yet was beyond me. And there I was with my Joy of the Acrobat.

  As the grappling hook pierced through one of the wooden boards right under the roof of the ill-fated temple, I pushed the trigger and soared over the battlefield. The upgraded Acrobatics skill and my experience with dealing with the Joy were enough to aim my body right through one of the holes, get inside the temple and attack the eager Spiders.

  A woman, to which one of the arthropods had almost gotten, screamed.

  The main fight was outside, and only six Decayed, ranging from level 20 to 40, managed to get through the walls of the temple. Although the Decay initially pinned this group against us, there were no serious enemies on the border of the dead lands. It intended to defeat us with sheer numbers, but not with quality.

  Assaulting the temple, the Decayed made holes in all of the walls at once, and now six of Spiders were surrounding the villagers that had gathered in the center of the temple.

  I couldn’t protect all of them, and by the time I had defeated the monsters three of them were laying on the floor, unconscious and with one HP left. Four more were writhing near them, dying from the Effects of Decay. These brave men attacked two Huge Spiders Changed by Decay, not letting them finish their friends.