Shida & Logan

Shida looked down at the broken man laying on the ground before him. He had left his lab in search of more specimens to test his new findings on and stumbled across a beaten knight before he got very far. Through the broken bits in his armor, Shida could see the man was still breathing- though just barely.

"Hm.. I don't think I could ask for a better chance to test my new magic," he thought to himself. Shida carefully lifted the knight with a levitation spell and proceeded back to his lab.

Over the past few months, the magician had been perfecting necromancy. He was toying with forbidden power that no mortal should ever speak of, let alone experiment and study it in such meticulous fashions. It was rumored that this is had angered the Gods and caused the incident that happened to the Bariura Empire.

During his research, he discovered that he could use the same sort of magic on living beings. Albeit through different methods, he could observe that the living subjects achieved roughly the same powers of a risen dead but in a weaker form. Around this time he diverted from pure necromancy and started experimenting on lving beings, hoping to find a breakthrough. Eventually he discovered that in order for the host to gain newfound power, the body would have to be destroyed and reconstructed to withstand the magic Shida was implanting. He had just completed a test on a small scale, a small animal transformed into a terrifying dark demon, when he decided it was ready to test this on a human.

Logan awoke. His head was pounding, his entire body ached, his senses were distorted and going haywire. He tried to cry out but his scream was muffled. Or maybe he just couldn't hear it? He tried to remember what happened. The man's head was clouded, memories hazy. Each time he'd try to dig, his head exploded into more pain as if to keep him from searching.

The pain eventually died, numbed into an ocassional dull pulse through his body that still made him wince. His eyesight and hearing returned. He studied his surroundings without moving too much. He recognized that he was in a magician's study. The various alchemy tables, scribbled reports hung to the walls, the different instruments scattered across the room.

His eyes wandered down to his body. He felt like something was off ever since he regained his senses. Logan couldn't believe his eyes. The knight's figure was now an astral body of what looked like dark energy. He didn't have much time to become acqainted with his new form before he heard someone walk into the room.

"Ah, you're awake, my name is Shida. I am mage belonging to the Bariura Empire." He started to walk towards Logan, examining him. Shida's eyes studied the astral figure and he smiled. "I found you while I was out for a stroll. You were beaten, broken, a mess. I have saved your life and in turn given you new power. You will follow my orders and serve beneath me. My magic now makes up your entire being, it belongs to me.

"I am keeping this newly discovered magic from my scholars for a while. Try not to reveal yourself too soon. Use this time to rest up and discover your strengths. I will have your first job for you in due time. There have been rumors of a demon surfacing but I want to confirm they're accurate before sending you off. Don't die on me so soon.

I have a pair of twin swords I was working on, personally enchanted by I; a set of matching armor accompanies them. They are finely tuned to compliment a body such as yours. You'll find them to your liking."

Logan sat and listened to the man. There wasn't any reason to reject what he was saying or interrupt him at any point. He was willing to explain what happened and what he'd done. While he wasn't fond of the idea of being bound to this man, it also seemed like he didn't have a choice.

"Very well," Logan thought to himself, "at the very least, this will be some amount of fun." He remained silent and simply nodded to Shida.

/u/protomayne