My Necromancer Class-Chapter 217: Permanent
The blood-vine bear had been caught in the mushrooms.
Just like the glade deer, it body was soon suspended in the air; its legs hanging with large balls of red fruit and dead lizards weaved into the mess.
Unlike the glade deer, the bear was now attached to many mushroom tendrils, more than what was possible for a lone animals. Red was diligent if nothing else.
Its fur was pulled tight, and the vines were still trying to fight back as they sunk into the beasts skin, but it was for nothing. The bear had already given its all.
It seemed that the red fruit even penetrated the flesh and went down to mixing with bone as it grew into every crack, as not only flesh was pulled away.
The body of the bear was like a rag-doll as it was pulled tight.
Pieces of flesh were ripped out by the mushroom tendrils in some places, while others caused its bone to dislocate and soon enough it ripped away limbs.
Life left the bears eyes, but not a single drop of blood fell from its wounds.
The vines became red once more; they retracted from the bear, draining the last of its blood.
Jay ignored any notifications he received as he watched quietly.
The bear died, and soon the vines would follow.
Below it though, hundreds of lizards were holding red fruits in the air, and the vine had no eyes of its own so it didn't event realise its current predicament.
Jay didn't really mind the gore, as he was previously a butcher anyway. He was used to it. Besides, all the things he saw as an adventurer built up his tolerance.
Each piece of the bear separated and pulled under a different mushroom cap, along with ripped off pieces of the blood vines.
The mushrooms closed, and one of them even seemed like an over-stuff snake as it took the bulk of the bears body and dipped back below the sand.
A large patch of the desert was finally free of mushrooms as they hid under the sand and began to process their meals.
Jay was glad that the lizards at least didn't get a meal either. It seemed that both of these enemies hunted by scent, but it was their own reliance on the smells which were their undoing.
After a moment of silence, all the lizards went back to gathering fruit, and the desert was quiet once more, as if nothing ever happened. All the tracks were covered up by the shifting sands.
The only thing remaining was a peculiar pile of bones under a large mushroom in the middle of the desert - And Red, who quickly rejoined its masters side.
Jay simply stood there watching. Suddenly all his plans of running for a dungeon and hiding were pointless; without the predator chasing him, he was safe again.
Safe for now anyway.
Of course, he wouldn't be able to run back across the desert; that way was blocked by lizards.
He turned to the dark forest behind him.
It was quiet, damp; the air thick and humid. A wall of forest began where the desert ended.
Jay looked up at the jagged snow-capped mountain one last time; resolute and silent.
With a sigh, he stepped into the veil of trees, disappearing into the green barrage of flora as if he had never been there at all.
~Somewhere North of Jay, end of the mountain range~
In the last five hours, north of Jay, a mage hunter had made some discoveries.
“Number three. I found another human skeleton. Long since dead with one arm. Ancient skeleton. No anomalies.”
...
A moment passed, but an uncaring voice sounded back through his communication crystal, “Proceed.”
So far nothing much was too far out of the ordinary - this was his second human skeleton, but it was still reasonably within the hunting range of Losla, and even within reasonable expectations.
Besides, one of the other mage hunters found a human skeleton too, while another found a cave with numerous carcasses stuck to the walls, covered with some sort of blue slime, so it wasn't like finding a second human skeleton was a rare oddity.
Besides, the bones were ancient. Since Jay was eighteen it didn't make sense for him to have such old skeletons.
Unfortunately, the skeletons they caught at Losla hadn't been thoroughly analysed yet, and no one really seemed to notice these finer details.
The mage hunter trudged onwards, diligently carrying out his duty as he remained alert.
Some time later however, he made another discovery - one that he was sure would gain attention and hopefully one that would bring him some reinforcement.
“Number three reporting. I found another skeleton, with a bone-based weapon. A bone spear. Broken into pieces. Both ancient skeletons.”
“Hold.” a voice quickly responded, then a moment later, “Number two and four are enroute. Proceed quickly. Find Jay no matter what.”
The voice sounded with both a mix of fanaticism and threat. Perhaps even excitement.
The threat in the voice, however, was towards number three, pushing him to exert his full potential in the hunt... and warning him not come back empty handed.
Number three gazed across the mountain along the rocks, between the mushroom desert and cliffs, as there were tracks in the soil - it seemed like ropes had been dragged through different parts of dirt which occasionally plotted between the rocks.
He began to follow the strange tracks, also finding a few large paw prints mixed in too.
Some time later, he found another skeleton with another broken weapon, and he was sure that Jay chose to walk along the mountainside rather than through the desert or the forest, and it made sense to the mage hunter too - the rocky terrain was much easier to cross than the other two.
What caused concern in the low ranking mage hunter though was the dead skeletons he kept finding along the way.
Sure, it was good to find them as it was a trail towards Jay, but it was also a sign that the necromancer was fighting something, and based on how some of the bones had been grinded to dust, whatever it was, was powerful.
Time was of the essence.
Rauther than a search and secure mission, it was turning into a rescue mission instead.
~Third academy, Mirror Reality #34~
Matheson groaned, waking up with a splitting headache, still having the ability to sense mana.
“Argh, what the fuck did they do to me...” he thought, a bitter frown as he sat there. Still dazed and a little confused.
Matheson, or 'Smiley', was alone again.
Having passed out a few times from random claps of pain, it seemed like he had stabilized somewhat. For now at least.
Finally, someone entered the room again.
“Fuck. That girl again.” he thought, staring at her with death in his gaze.
It was that girl who caused him so much suffering. The one who did something to him... something he would have to undo, if it were even possible.
Smiley both feared and hated her at the same time, and he deeply desired to pierce her heart with his sword.
“Well, looks like you're doing better.” she smiled, “don't worry, you won't be paralyzed anymore... unless you misbehave anyway.” she shrugged.
Smiley stared at her with anger, “so... she paralyzed me. Or she has the power to. Somehow...”
Due to the intense pain, he had completely forgotten about the worm which entered his body - the same parasitical worm which was now coiled around the nerve bundles at the base of his skull.
All of those painful memories had been stashed away somewhere, buried deep in his subconsciousness.
Smiley continued to angrily stare, grinding his teeth as another person entered the room.
An old man with a jolly expression and a long beard greeted him. Both the old man and the young girl were smiling, but Smiley sensed no danger from behind the elders.
“Hello, and welcome to the third academy. Here's the situation - you're not supposed to be here, though due to some uncertain events, you are. Plus, I'm told you snuck in here, and we were thinking of executing you, but we have decided to have mercy since you're so young. But since you are here, and sending you back would be annoying, you will now be working here with us.” Norgrim said as if it were already a done deal.
“Now, I'm sure we'll find a way to make use of you, but for now I believe we need some mage assistants.” he added, “Also, don't try to harm anyone or we'll be forced to execute you.”
He said it so casually, but a shiver went down Smileys spine; something in his voice told him to beware, that many had been executed before and that many more would be to come.
“By the way, this is a permanent position.” he nodded with a smile.
