Chapter 13: Travel to E-Rantel, spell bestowing, New creations
Outskirts of Carne Village
The small "sun" in the sky slowly dimmed and shrunk until it disappeared. The [Greater magic shield] barrier constantly absorbed part of the energy that the [Greater Fireball] released but the amount was so vast that it took minutes to banish.
After leaving Gazef in the village chief house, and informing the villagers that the coast is clear, Merek went back to the battlefield. There was something that remained to be done… it wasn't to bury the dead, he couldn't care less about that, however looting is always a must.
He wouldn't loot Gazef's men's bodies, since probably Gazef would want to bury them and you know, the honor or something. But the Sunlight Scripture, or their remains were ok to loot from his perspective. Starting from what he considered most important he immediately took the [Magic Sealing Crystal] that Nigun used to summon the [Dominion authority]. He also took some magic trinkets that Nigun and some of the members of the scripture had.
[Mantle of intelligence]: Grants the wearer +2 Mag. Attack, +2 Mag. Def, +2 Max MP.
[Sages pendant]: Grants the wearer 10% increased mana regen.
[Bracelet of protection]: Grants the wearer 5% Phy. Def.
They didn't have many valuable things on them, either they did not bring any because they thought it was unnecessary, they were living in scarcity, they relied on their own skills or their higher ups did not put much value on this "elite" squad. Any of the possibilities were stupid on Merek's mind as, if they were not properly equipped the moment they found themselves at a disadvantage they could meet their demise.
'Well he did have that [Magic Sealing Crystal] so it's not like they were totally unequipped, but they were unlucky I guess.'
When he returned to the village Gazef was still unconscious, inspecting him with [God's sight] he understood that Gazef would be alright and without intervention would wake up in about 20 hours.
He could restore him to peak condition with a flick of the wrist but decided otherwise because even though the martial arts were somewhat interesting, he could probably [Create] a similar system with skills better than the ones Gazef had, plus Gazef couldn't be the only one with martial arts.
So at the end of the day it was much better to avoid Gazef for now and leave the mess of the village and the imprisoned soldiers to the strongest warrior of the kingdom than having to deal with all that.
Merek looked for Enri and they went to his house. They picked their stuff rather quickly, him using his [Inventory] and she using the [Gold meteorite storage ring]. The house was left empty except for the furniture of the living room.
Once they did that, Merek went to the village chief to say goodbye and to tell the village chief that if he so desired he could take the house for himself, as he would probably not come back.
Not many people saw them off as Merek and Enri departed in a somewhat hurried fashion and didn't make too much noise. Merek took two of the horses that the soldiers had and rode one of them down the trail that led to E-Rantel. At first he thought of using a spell like [Teleportation], [Greater Teleportation] or [Gate] coupled with some sort of divination like a [Mirror of Remote Viewing] to arrive at E-Rantel immediately but considering it would be the first time Enri left the village to a far place, it was probably better to experience the travel.
When the village was not on view Merek stopped. Using some lumber, pelts and such Merek used [Create] to make a cart with two front seats and space for some goods. He was going to a city as a traveling merchant and while he could just use [Inventory] to move the goods. Going through the gate empty handed and suddenly having lots of items could be suspicious… and maybe even illegal depending on the laws that regulated taxes and the transportation or smuggling of goods.
He wouldn't be a bootlicker for the ruling government but neither would he search for troubles when they could be easily avoided. When trading inside a city he planned to pay taxes or tolls if it was required, having guards and tax collectors pursuing him for something he could have avoided with a couple of gold coins was just awful and if he wanted he could show the more ordinary stuff at the gate and take out the more exotic merchandise when he was inside his store.
Now that he thought about it, he would need a store as well… These couple of days promise to be a bit hectic.
On the road they talked and shared a couple of memories. When the conversations stopped, Merek decided to teach Enri a couple of spells, with a level on witch, she could probably learn arcane spells, curses, illusions, mental spells, nature spells, and religious spells.
For now, Merek planned to teach her the most basic spells… tier 1 spells. They aren't the most impressive spells that exist but they work as the fundamentals for when she needed to learn higher tier spells.
If she didn't learn any spells or skills as [Farmer] which he seriously doubted she did, then, if things went by Yggdrasil rules since she was LV 5 she could learn up to 15 spells. 3 spells per level and one tier per 7 levels, so once she got to level 7 she could learn tier 2 spells.
He choose a couple of tier 1 spells that he thought might be useful for her:
[Mage hand]: Created a spectral hand able to to activate, move, lift and manipulate objects with a maximum required force of 5 kg and up to 30. Can't interact with living creatures.
[Witch bolt]: A beam of crackling, blue energy lances out toward a creature within range, forming a sustained arc of lightning between the caster and the target. A ranged spell attack that deals lightning damage.
[Magic arrow]: Creates a glowing green dart of magical force, upon impact deals force damage and the dart dissolves. Range 40 meters
[Burning hand]: As you hold your hands with thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips. Creatures in a 5 feet cone in front of the user take small amounts of fire damage. Might ignite inflammable objects.
[Identify]: Choose an object that you must touch throughout the casting of the spell. If it is a magic item or some other magic-imbued object, you learn its properties and how to use them, whether it requires attunement to use, and how many charges it has, if any. You learn whether any spells are affecting the item and what they are. If the item was created by a spell, you learn which spell created it. If you instead touch a creature throughout the casting, you learn what spells, if any, are currently affecting it.
Originally, when Merek was in the village taking things slow, he wanted Enri to learn math, reading and writing first and then teach her spells, skills and how to be a merchant assistant. However after the incident with Billy, and later the attack on Carne Village, he came to learn that, while there were kingdoms, empires and such, at the end of the day in a world with skills and magic the powerful would take what they wanted and the weak would suffer without chance to retaliate.
Now, in his mind, learning to read and write was still important, but not as much as learning to fare by herself. He could technically always protect her and even if something bad happened to her he could fix it, but having to heal or revive her after the damage was done would definitely leave a bad aftertaste.
Without further ado he used his [Create] skill to make two new skill for himself:
[Imbue skill]: The user of this skill is able to confer the target with the ability to use a skill he has as long as the target has all the requirements for such skill. The user does not lose the skill. Cooldown depends on the caster and target endurance and stamina.
[Bestow spell knowledge]: The user of this skill is able to confer the target with the ability to use a spell he has as long as the target has all the requirements for such spell. The user does not lose the spell. Cooldown depends on the caster and target wisdom and intelligence.
"Say Enri, what do you think of learning magic?" asked Merek in what seemed like a random question.
"I, that would be awesome… but I don't think I can learn magic master, I'm still unskilled at reading and writing so reading a spell book or grimoire would be impossible and I still don't know how to use mana or how to control my mind. Answered Enri
"Enri, do you know that you already possess a level on [witch]?"
"A level on witch? What does that mean… wait how am I a witch?"
"Well, you know people are able to grow stronger, some adventurers and warriors are way stronger than what normal humans are right? That is because of levels, they are like… imagine a ladder and imagine that there is a peak to a profession, let's say a peak to being a warrior, then each step towards that peak we could call it a level."
"Ohhh, then wait, I have a level on witch, do I have any other levels?"
"Hmmmm yes… 4 levels on… mmm [Farmer]."
"Ohhh, hmmm well it makes sense that's what I have been doing all my life. But that doesn't answers how I got a level on witch"
"Probably when you completed the familiar contract."
"Ohhh still, witch though, aren't witches bad?"
"Well, jobs aren't inherently bad, for instance there are assassins that I would consider good and priests that do some really fucked up things, witches can be wicked or virtuous the choice is up to you." Answered Merek
"What I will teach you is to use magic and some skills useful as a witch. What kind of witch you become depends on what you decide." added to his answer.
"I see…" said Enri looking thoughtful
"Anyways, I can teach you the spells directly to your mind, like telepathy… you would feel like you just had a revelation and maybe you will feel tired and dizzy afterwards. But I assure you it is the fastest way" said Merek
"Ohhh you mean you can do it right now?" Asked Enri
"Yes, it's probably the most efficient way to spend the time traveling, according to the village chief E-Rantel is about two days away from the village if we went traveling by foot. Using the cart it may take about one day, but we didn't leave early in the morning so most surely we might need to camp in the night. During the afternoon and evening we can teach you the spells, rest during the night and probably we will reach the city before lunchtime."
"Sounds like a great plan to me… so what do I need to do?"
"Stay still I will cast a spell, if you might feel a little bit disoriented, try to stay still."
Enri was a little bit uneasy, but thinking Merek was the one doing the procedure helped her settle down a bit.
Thinking about the first spell he wanted to transfer to Enri, Merek used the skill [Bestow spell knowledge: Mage hand].
Glowing blue wisps started to flow from Merek's forehead to Enri's, when they reached her they just passed her skin and sank below. At first she didn't feel a thing but slowly new information started to flow in her mind. The weird part was that the information felt completely natural, she didn't need to learn it, it was as if she knew all of her life. About two minutes passed and she didn't notice how sleepy she was, she focused on the information so much that she almost fell asleep without noticing, then, the skill was over, the wisps ended and she lost consciousness.
"This is happening too often…" said Merek as he inspected her to make sure she was fine. Her [status] was [mentally exhausted]. "Hmm no wonder the skill has a cooldown depending on the user and target intelligence and wisdom, probably is better to just let her rest."
The following couple of hours were tranquil until he noticed a small group trailing them, they were following from behind the treeline along the trail.
Merek kept the cart moving for about half an hour until night was about to fall. The group was still trailing them, keeping their distance. Probably they were waiting for them to stop so that they could ambush them while they rested. A sound strategy on Merek's mind considering it would put them on an even higher advantage if you counted their superior numbers.
A party of 7 against two people, one of them a young girl. This would be a piece of cake… at least that must have been what they had on their minds. Kill the man, take the girl and the merchandise, half of them would be needed most surely.
What they didn't know was that they were about to attack a lion in sheep's clothing, not even that, Marek's body type was that of a tall and strong man, if he was an ordinary person they would need at least two people to take him on, maybe three, thing is, he was not an ordinary person, neither was Enri. With her familiar it was almost impossible for them to take her on, even if she was alone. Their plan was bound to fail, not because it was a bad plan but because of bad luck… same could be said about the Scripture.
Merek couldn't believe the patience these bandits had. They didn't ambush him on the road, nor did they once he stopped the cart. He didn't plan on playing the waiting game but since they were generous enough he decided to move Enri inside the cart. He silently casted a couple of spells immediately as he noticed the bandits started moving.
[Barrier of protection from projectiles], [Greater magic shield],[Wall of sound], [Arcane lock]. With that they couldn't harm her or get inside the cart, she couldn't leave either until he released the lock but she was still asleep so probably she wouldn't notice.
He looked around using an illusion on his eyes so that the glow of [God's sight] wouldn't be noticeable. They were around Lv 13, the lowest was 11 while the highest was LV16. A couple were using masks and one was covered with a hood while the other four were uncovered. All of them had a negative karma value, ranging from evil, to extreme evil. He didn't pay much attention afterwards, they had decent levels for a group of thugs but hardly noticeable for him.
"Are you going to come out now, or are you planning on waiting till morning?" Asked merek towards no one
…
"Come on don't be shy... howcome from seven people everyone is shy?"
…
Some bandits came out of some bushes, others from behind some trees.
"Heh if you know what is best, leave the girl and the cart and run, if you are fast enough maybe you can survive" said one of the bandits smiling, the smile showed a metallic tooth and he was playing with a scimitar.
"Six out of ten for originality, four in looks, maybe seven in acting. Does anyone else want to give it a shot?." Said Merek as if he was not threatened just a second ago
The bandits shared a look with each other, then the same bandit spoke.
"You don't know what we, a fraction of the Dead Spreading Brigade, can do and yet try and make a fool of yourself, clown. Jajajajaja let's just kill him… maybe we can play with the girl before he rests… in pieces." Yelled the bandit like every third rate villain would.
"Ironic" murmured Merek as a cane appeared on his right hand. From that moment, the fight only took seconds. A couple of well placed [Kinetic blast], Merek didn't measure the amount of mana he used and, without metallic armors the 4 uncovered bandits had a new feature on their torsos, a concave chest cavity. Thrown like ragdolls, once they hit the ground they didn't stand up.
The three covered bandits (also the higher leveled ones) looked at each other, when they were about to retaliate a [Wind Blade] sliced through each of their necks. Merek didn't promote senseless murder but these outlaws would wreck more havoc if left unattended.
Following his golden rule, Merek went to loot their bodies. One scimitar, a short sword, a couple of daggers, and a naginata; all of them were of common rarity and didn't had any enchantments, jusy ordinary steel weapons.
When taking the naginata from one of the masked bandits Merek couldn't help but notice the dainty fingers the bandit had. After a couple of seconds of pause Merek took a deep breath and looked towards the head of said bandit. Deep down he already knew tha answer but as if it was instinct he went towards it and unmasked it.
The girl was neither ugly nor beautiful, the question Merek had in his head was 'what is a girl doing with dregs of society like these bandits, I think she was even their leader, at least if levels are of aky indication…'
He looked at her face, her head and her body as if searching for something and after being dazed for a moment he put the head closer to the body.
Maybe it was her hairstyle, a hair-bun with two strands of hair by the sides, or her decapitated state but memories of a certain [Dullahan] npc came to his mind…
Usually dullahans appear as a sinister being, a man or a woman riding upon a black horse, but the rider has no head upon their shoulders. Typically, the dullahan carries its head under its arm; the head appears dead and rotten (sometimes compared to having flesh resembling old cheese) with a demonic grin spread across its face from ear to ear.
On the other arm dullahans carry a whip made from a human's spine.
But this one was different, from a guild that gathered enough [Caloric Stone] to ask the developers for a golem core for an npc, Merek, or Viktor at that moment, decided to go and take a look at their npcs during one of the servers maintenance downtime to see what they did with the golem core. The golem was of course broken statwise, but what expected. What got him interested, just like most of their other npcs was her appearance. Those people had made an heteromophic guild where most of their female npcs were extremely sexy and beautiful.
They had a [Dullahan] battle-maid, she had the strict, intelligent, sexy, elder sister look. With her hair tied into a low-cropped bun at the back of her head, wearing glasses and a blue-collar around her neck to keep her head attached to her body.
By now Merek was trying to reason with himself, creating an explanation on why does he needs a girl with the same looks as that npc to help with the store… 'Yep, Enri will need more help... nope I'm not deceiving myself into believing i have a false need to justify creating a girl… besides i have had more than enough self control, considering the powers I have, I can't begin to imagine what would someone with a little bit less of self control would have done by now.'
Thinking of Yggdrasil's limitations on the summoned beings (mainly the time restrictions) Merek was analyzing if he should use his [Creation] skill to make the job or if [Create mid tier undead], the necromantic spell would suffice.
Something told him both spells would work as intended, it was like an instinct told him that having a divinity linked to creation made it so that any spells that fell under the creation/summon would work as he intended and not as they were bound previously on Yggdrasil.
Not one to trust his instincts blindly, Merek decided to cast a spell to test his theory, pointing randomly to a direction that by coincidence had the body of the bandit with a metal tooth. "[Create mid tier undead: Dead knight]" said Merek having the picture of a knight that was quite different from the [Dead Knight] from Yggdrasil.
After a moment, black goo that looked like tar started coming from Merek's legs and it quickly moved towards the corpse of that bandit.
'Hmmm, that's new' thought Merek. When the tar-like substance started to sink in the corpse, it fused and it started to "eat" the corpse as it shook.
When there was nothing left from the corpse, a new being started to form from the substance. Starting from the legs and going up a knight in silver armor with gold and blue details. It looked like a paladin and exuded a heroic aura. No parts of his body were visible as it was completely covered by armor. The small gap that worked as an eye window looked dark as the night except for two small blue orbs that glowed dimly.
The knight was equipped with a large kite shield and a greatsword. Once the knight took shape it dropped to the knee and lowered his head.
Merek felt a connection with the knight as soon as it came to existence. It felt as if he could communicate with him telepathically and also there was this sort of energy, his life-force, or vitality; it was like a candle where he could monitor his state. Maybe if it wasn't an undead he could tell his feelings… Was he an undead?
Using [God's sight] Merek inspected the knight
[Dead knight variant (Pale paladin) Lv35]
Racial levels:
[Skeletal warrior Lv 15]
[Death knight] Lv 5]
[Paladin Lv 5]
Job levels:
…
Stats
…
Yes, it was an undead, yet it didn't give off the aura an undead usually does, it didn't smell rotten either like the normal death knights. When using normal detection spells he couldn't tell it was undead, [God's sight] could see the negative energy inside the armor… probably the armor worked as a barrier for detections.
Trying out the mental connection Merek tried telling the Pale paladin to stand up, which he complied.
"Can you speak?" Asked Merek, to which the paladin answered, shaking his head. 'Mmmm probably it's because I forgot to think about that before casting the spell. And since the original dead knight couldn't speak then it remained that way… it's probably better though. But when I create the waifu… I mean the shop assistant, I have to give better thought to it then.'
The first part of the "experiment" was a success. Now he only needs to wait past the time a Death knight would naturally desummon, normally 100 minutes.
Merek was sitting on the driver's seat of the cart. He had cleaned the area where the fight happened and stored the other five corpses inside his [Inventory]. 'Maybe I should have kept the Sunlight Scripture bodies as well…' thought merek looking towards the sky, Enri was still sleeping inside the cart, the paladin could be seen nearby besides the decapitated body and head of the bandit girl.
3 or 4 hours later Merek was standing near the corpse looking towards the Pale paladin. 'Well, i think that proves it, it has been well over 100 minutes… maybe when I use a body the summon remains'
With a certain Dullahan on his mind Merek started to concentrate since he didn't want mishaps, the lore of the original was unknown to him as he didn't read the lore of that guild's npcs but that was alright...maybe it was better that way.
Once he felt he had everything set up in his mind, Merek casted [Summon undead 6th tier: Dullahan] pointing at the bandit girl.
The preamble of the creation of the dullahan was similar to the death knight, the black goo, the corpse getting eaten while having a "seizure" … 'must be the same animation for most of the humanoid undead.'
From the bottom a woman in a long maid dress appeared, the dress was mainly black with some white. With pale white skin and jet black hair tied in a bun with strands adorning her face that could be described as cold beauty. Her head was kept attached to her body by a blue collar with silver details. Her body was voluptuous with wide hips and a small waist smile. Her breasts were ample and shapely. The only word one could say was breathtaking.
Merek could feel a connection with the dullahan as well, but this connection felt more...complete? As he was trying to grasp the difference between the connection he felt from the Pale paladin and the dullahan, she dropped on both knees and looking at his eyes, with a face filled with devotion, intimacy and love
"My creator, my master, my love"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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