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An Otherworldly Scholar - 49
🕑 Added 2023-08-31 00:26:02 +0000 UTCThe undead monster’s presence was overwhelming. Despite the fact it was just a black cloak cut against the entrance of the cave, my whole body was paralyzed and even the constant murmuring of [Awareness] stopped. The creature’s gelid eyes penetrated my body and my soul. As strange as it sounded, I knew it could see through me, into my character sheet and perhaps even my memories. It was not the diluted presence behind the rotten flesh puppet I had faced previously. This creature was no regular predator like the packs of Black Wolves or the mutant bear I had encountered on my first day here. This monster was pure and unadulterated death.
If I was going to die, I thought that I might as well quench my curiosity.
Lich Lv.?? [Id̵en̷t̶ify̷] ??̷̧͖̅́̉
Anticlimactic. I expected to see a level with three digits, but the fact the creature was beyond a System description was unnerving in its own right. A shiver ran down my spine as my mind tried to make sense of what I had in front of me. Maybe the System wasn’t as absolute as I initially thought.
“You are a brave one, Wizard.” The Lich said and its voice sounded like glaciers clashing against each other.
The undead orcs stood still against the tunnel walls, and I remained silent. My social skills didn’t cover small talk with a chatty undead monster.
Many times I had thought about dying but I never ever pictured myself being so calm in the face of death. Meanwhile, in the background of my mind, [Awareness] was still trying to come up with an escape plan but my mana pool was nearly empty. If [Luck] was an actual hidden parameter, I should already spend it all.
“Not brave. Curious.” I said as the silence dragged on and the Lich didn’t seem to have the intention of impaling me with its icicles yet. Even if it was the kind of villain that liked to talk before delivering the finishing blow, I didn't see a way out for myself.
The Lich’s voice echoed inside the tunnel. “No. You are too serene. That’s no curiosity.”
A smile tugged the edges of my mouth as I understood the source of my calm.
“I’ve already won.” I said to my own surprise.
“You're aware you are about to die, aren’t you?” The Lich replied and its electric blue eyes gleamed under its cloak.
“You are one of those unbeatable enemies at the beginning of video games. I am the secondary character that sacrifices their life to hold the unbeatable enemy long enough for the protagonist to flee.” I explained, not worrying if the Lich could actually understand the references. “I’ve already won. Elincia is alive and she has enough herbs to brew a small fortune worth of potions. The orphanage will enter a second golden era with or without me. Farcrest has survived other Monster Surges before, so the chance it survives again it's quite high.”
The number of guardsmen stationed at Farcrest didn’t seem anything near excessive now. I had to credit the Marquis for that. It was ironic. The same man that was my enemy days ago, now was the only one who could protect the orphanage from the Monster Surge.
The kids would be fine. Even if they didn’t get accepted into the Imperial Academy, I could see them thriving in the army. Zaon had a great heart and a newly found confidence. Wolf’s orc heritage made him stronger than a regular human. Firana was in a league on her own. Even Ilya was working hard to surpass her limitations. I didn’t harbor any doubts about her potential anymore and by the end of winter she’ll be twice as capable as today.
Maybe my brain, or my [Awareness] skill, was tricking me to remain calm in the jaws of death.
“That’s quite a small dream for a man of your capabilities.” The Lich said, tearing me away from my train of thought.
“You keep saying that about my capabilities.” I pointed out.
The Lich smiled with its eyes.
“The System is a saddle, Wizard, but there’s a way around it. Imagine all the things you could do without the boundaries of a mana pool. Without the silly little rules that prevent you from using magic as you please.” The Lich said, opening its arms. The way it gestured was unnerving, as if it were human once but had completely forgotten what it was to be one.
I pondered over the monster’s words. It wasn’t hard to imagine the spells I could work out without the System blocking my efforts. Freezing objects to the absolute zero, igniting oxygen, creating vacuums, showers of ionized radiation, and all the funny ways of making things explode. Breaking the laws of thermodynamics was only the tip of the iceberg.
“You are offering me power.” I said. I wondered if the Lich really knew how much it was offering me.
“Finite and powerless, all humans are. Just think about all your struggles. Imagine how trivial it would be to solve every one of them if you accept the deal.” The Lich replied with its frozen and wicked voice. “I’m offering you power and immortality.”
For an instant, I forgot I was in front of a deadly monster and envisioned myself as an immortal and almighty leader. I could mold this kingdom as I saw fit. I could probably push it technologically hundreds of years ahead and even more if I factored magic into the matter. A fairer world for Elincia and the orphans.
“And what do you want in return?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
“Loyalty.” The Lich replied. “There are bigger and meaner things out there in the Deep Farlands, Wizard. Things that could kill even an immortal like me. I ask for you to join forces with me.”
I weighed my alternatives. A part of me wanted to accept the power from the Lich’s hands and then use them to kill it. However, another part of me was afraid of the consequences. What if all that power changed me? The Wendigo wasn’t human anymore after whatever unholy metamorphosis it had experienced, and neither was the Lich. As much as I desired power, the mere idea of stopping being human made me sick. What if I stopped feeling compassion for others? My father would not forgive me, and neither would Elincia.
“How do you even go around the System?” I asked.
“With what lesser minds call Corruption.” The Lich stepped forward. “I call it freedom.”
My brain screamed danger but my body was frozen in place. As far as my experience went, corruption meant danger. I envisioned a Black Wolf. Rabid, hungry, vicious. I had seen regular wolves before and the Black Wolves were completely different beasts. Even the Wendigo, which had been a human before, seemed to have lost all trace of sanity.
The Lich took another step forward and raised its undead hand towards my chest.
I would rather die than turning into a mindless beast. I wasn’t going down without a fight. In the best case my body ended up unusable for whatever necromantic experiment the Lich wanted to perform.
[Swordsmanship] cleared my mind of any superfluous thought. With a precise movement, I grabbed the hilt of my sword, and the leftovers of my mana instantly surrounded my blade. Then, I quick-stepped forward, raising my arms and aiming towards the Lich’s head. The tip of my blade buried into the darkness of the Lich’s cloak, just between his shining blue eyes, but nothing offered resistance. The sword cut the fabric of the cloak from side to side. No face, no skull, no nothing.
A thick layer of ice materialized out of nowhere and trapped my arms and legs. I struggled to break free with all my remaining strength, but the ice was solid as concrete. I cast [Stun Gaze], [Intimidate], and violently expelled mana from every pore of my body but nothing worked. My heart hammered against my chest. Claustrophobia got a grip on my throat and the freezing cold extended through my arms.
The Lich continued walking, unaware of the sword going through its cloak. It stopped in front of me and raised a pale hand with marked green veins and long black nails. Effortlessly, the Lich made a cut on my jacket at the height of my heart. The cold wind washed over my skin.
My throat was dry.
The Lich looked directly into my eyes and touched my chest with the tip of its finger.
Pain blinded me. It felt as if a frozen hand had cut my body wide open just to tear my bones one by one away from my flesh. I looked at my arms, but my vision was clouded from pain. From the tip of the Lich’s finger, a black substance spread under my skin like the legs of a spider.
In a blink of an eye, I found myself floating in the void. The pain was a distant reminder that my body was still at the Lich’s mercy. Only if I focused hard enough I could watch my own body frozen in place. Despite not having a physical form anymore, I looked around. The realization suddenly hit me, I was inside my empty mana pool.
Suddenly, the bottom of my mana pool trembled and tore apart, revealing a new depth much darker and more sinister than the emptiness surrounding me. I could feel something down there pulsating like a living being. As the hole grew, blinding rays of light hit my face and a powerful roar filled my ears. Then I saw it. An ancient fountain of raw mana covered in chains, seals and spells. It was as beautiful as it was frightening.
If my intuition was right, my mana pool had a faint connection with that fountain even before the Lich had broken the boundaries between them. That was the source of my magic. No. Not only mine but of every System user in the continent.
The borders of my mana pool continued tearing apart and I fell towards the blazing underground sun. When my consciousness began to get lost within the brightness, I parted from the vision and returned to the freezing cave. The pain assaulted me, but the adrenaline kept me from giving up to it.
I felt the power of the mana source burning inside my veins but the black tentacles the Lich had injected under my skin prevented me from using it. Every single fiber of my being screamed in pain, and yet no sound came from my mouth. My eyes surveyed the tunnel in a last attempt to find a way out. [Awareness] was silent.
I was going to get converted.
Then, when I lost all hope, I felt a tug from my pocket and a swirl of black mana darkened my vision.
“Damn creature!” The Changeling yelled with a voice I didn’t recognize.
In front of me, a man of straight black hair and pale skin dressed in a long red tunic stood between me and the Lich. It wasn’t anyone I knew so I assumed the Changeling must’ve seen into the Lich’s memories.
Taking advantage of the moment of doubt in the Lich’s movements, the Changeling channeled mana into its hands and cast a stream of flames. The spell hit the Lich, but it didn’t seem to cause any harm. Suddenly, the ice around my limbs broke and I was free again.
How dare you!
The Lich’s voice wasn’t a sound anymore, but a message broadcast directly into my brain.
“How dare you!” The Changeling angrily replied as the flames intensified.
The Lich was unfazed by the spell. Just as my mana blade before, the flames went through its body without causing any harm. I covered my mouth with the sleeve of my jacket. The smell of burning rotten flesh and the heat of the primal mana flowing inside my body were almost unbearable.
My consciousness hung from a thread and the voice of [Awareness] was nowhere to be found. I closed my eyes and let the primal mana flow through the palms of my hands. It was different from the blue mana threads the System supplied me to perform my skills, more pure and violent. Then, I noticed there was nothing stopping me from using it as my mind imagined. There was no brake, no safety kill switch, no skills, no boundaries.
Every second that passed, it brought me closer to the point of no return. The Corruption already flowed inside my mana pool, and I wondered how much more I could push it before turning into something else.
Give it back!
The Lich yelled directly into my brain.
With my last strands of consciousness, I absorbed the heat stored in the rocks around me. Ten, a hundred, a thousand meters around me. I extended my control over the environment, siphoning the energy into a single point over the Lich’s head. The tunnel walls cracked as they instantly cooled down, far colder than anything the Lich could muster. The whole mountain trembled and groaned as the veins of water stored in the stone froze.
The ceiling of the tunnel glowed as the rock started to boil. For an instant, the Lich stopped paying attention to the Changeling and focused its gelid eyes on me. The rock reached its melting point and the ceiling turned into a cascade of molten rock that rained over the Lich. Then, as the Lich disappeared under the shower of lava, I siphoned the energy away from the collapsed rock, hardening it instantly.
Before passing out, I heard Changeling's high pitched voice screaming in panic.
Comments
I Dare Korval
Well that's going to leave a mark.
Darkarma
DC, like from that Darn Cat
Marian Ch
I hope the "damn creature" gets a nice, shiny name at some point. And congrats mr. MC, you have unlocked "unlimited human".
