A Rattling Monster

Chapter 47: Sand and Bones

Can he do that? Surrender like this?

(Well, if I was Krieg, I would probably be very upset about my follower right now. But, even if he is probably one of the pillars of the organization, he is still a human being. Like the emperor of the djinn, he never directly attacked you because he was scared. It is just a strategical retreat.)

Ok. Makes sense, just I thought that they were supposed to be loyal to the death or some stuff like that. But know what should I do? Because you asked me to keep him alive. And now I managed to make him my prisoner.

(Since we have come to this situation, just ask him to escort us to his base. And have a meeting with the person in charge, he should probably be called a prophet or an apostle. That's the standard name.)

Ok.

"You will conduct ussss to your le-leader, sleek sleek."

"Us? You and who else? Were you even more than just one ratman?" I can see him watching his surrounding as he questions me.

"Me and sssomebody else, sleek sleek. But just lead me to yo-your base."

Ok my bad, I said us. But that's a good thing, that way, he will think that there are other ratmen around me, waiting just a single order to kill him. But that means he really surrenders to me alone. And he doesn't look very scared or even surprised. That's weird. Maybe he is really good at hiding his emotions. So I follow him after we exited the Necropolis.

Strangely, it is the first time I am with someone that needs to eat or rest. All the other time, it was with a djinn or with a god. But now, I have to wait for him to finish his meal or even sleep when it is the night. He must truly find me weird. I mean, I just stand here, without moving and watching him do his business. I guess he would have probably tried to escape if I wasn't like that. Like, with the help of the night, when I was asleep, he quickly sneaks out of my vigilance. But too bad for him, I don't need to do those things. If he asks a question about that, I can tell we are multiple ratmen relaying each other. I hope he doesn't ask this.

In the end, we are moving very slowly. Just the fact that a human is not supposed to walk in the desert is a good factor. After that, you have the numerous breaks, where he drinks, rests a little, eats something. Sometimes, we just stop at an oasis for hours, to refill his gourd and enjoy some shadows. That situation reminds me of the innumerable escort quests, where you have to carry a stupid NPC to a point, where he moves at a snail speed while you could have done it in five minutes if he wasn't present. Those that are even worse than the one where the NPC is just a little slower than your own walk speed, meaning you have to walk, stop, walk again. That's what is happening right now. I am now hoping that a monster will target him, just to make him move faster or even run. Yes, that would be great.

Oslo, do you see anything nearby?

(No, nothing, but if it is hidden, I would have a hard time finding it. And with the erratic movement of our captive, I am not even sure if we are really on our way to the Krieg hideout.)

Great, now maybe there is a chance that Daryl is trying to make us get lost. I am really losing patience now. Well, forget it, I will just melt one of his arms and then he will move. I approach Daryl and as expected he quickly back off, feeling something odd. Don't worry, I won't kill you, just destroy a limb of yours. Of course, I won't say that to him. But the problem is, every time I do two steps, he does one and we both travel the same distance. So either I have to pounce on him, or I have to make him stop. I create an orb in my hand and filled it with acid, then I look at Daryl, and begin to walk softly. He doesn't move anymore. My threat is obvious, it's either you stay put or you receive my orb.

After I am close to him, I remark that he still hasn't tried to talk. That's weird. He should have at least complained or tried to prevent me to do anything to him. Just as I try to grab his arm, I failed. What? How can I fail to grab his arm? I try again, but the only thing I grab is an empty sleeve. There is nothing inside. And as I try to look in the eyes of Daryl, I see his face turning into sand and slowly get carried away by the wind. That bastard! He was partly a djinn. And now he is escaping. By the time I recover from my shock, his body is already gone and only his clothes are visible on the ground. It is even too late to use my aura to wipe him out.

(I warned you that they are a bunch of strange creatures. I didn't expect the sandman, just to be clear. But that means we have no way to find the servants of Krieg. And we are probably not close.)

Ok, just can you find him, with I don't know a tracker?

(Yes, don't worry, he thinks he is escaping just the ratmen, but you can't escape the sight of a god. Well, you can, but not him. Take it easy, relax in the oasis and wait for him to reappears.)

So I am supposed to just sit and wait? Fine, but maybe I will try to create a new magical spell. The cooldown on this should have expired by now, or at least my evolution should have reset it. So what new wonderful source of destruction should I create? Let's resume what I have. I have a spell to cover me or an object in darkness, useful only in the night. Or to provoke surprise in the middle of the day. I have a long range and accurate weapon that is fuelled by both my acid and my plague. I have an area of effect curse to slow down the enemies around me. I have a small regeneration so my health can always be replenished. What do I need?

Not something with the basic elements like fire or ice, I already tried those. Something related to death, darkness, poisons or diseases. I could become a small necromancer. Resurrect bodies, to act as a meat shield. But the only problem is how I kill my victims. With acid most of the time. So not a lot of bodies are still intact. And I don't know if I can just create a skeleton from nothing. Well, I can still try. Think carefully, create a creature of death, feel his bones materialize in front of you, just bare hand, a perfect white skeleton. With a full body. No missing limbs but nothing else. Now form the mana in your hand into that idea. Yes, yes, IT IS ALIVE! ALIVE! BEHOLD MY CREATION!

Something is forming right in front of me, I can see the bones slowly appearing from nowhere, only because of me. Yes, a skeleton is forming, the first soldier in my army. An army, created with the sole purpose of attacking all that opposes me.

"Congratulation to the user for creating a new spell. Please say its name."

Hahaha, of course, it would be a name easy to remember and logical.

-Raise Undead

"System acknowledges the choice of the user, the spell: [Raise Undead] has been created."

Great, now I just need to create more and 2/357 MP. I used nearly everything that I have, just to create the most basic skeleton. He doesn't even have a weapon. It will take at least six hours, to create a new one. And I am sure that he is not resistant at all. I get close to my newly formed soldier and just lightly hit him. His shoulder exploded at the contact of my claws. He loses his life, or unlife I would say, instantly. Great, so for my meat shield, I think I can forget.

But all the passive related to magic have improved. Great, so more mana regeneration, less casting time and less consumption during the spells. Just calculating in my head what would have been the real cost of creating a skeleton without this reduction. At least six hundred MP. Damn, I understand why this lich in the undead cave only had the worst of the worst. Because he couldn't get anything better. At least they had broken swords and stuff like that. Ok, maybe I was too harsh on that lich, at least his skeletons were capable of taking 2 hits before dying. Mine has nothing and gets destroyed by my pitiful strength.

During the following days, each time I could, I created another skeleton. But my spell never was upgraded, so I have still a probably 1 HP skeleton. One time, I ask one of them to punch the nearby tree, his hand was destroyed in the process. It is going to be a very long road.

(Stop playing the God of Death and prepare to move, I finally manage to find our old friend.)