Admittedly this chapter took longer to get out than it probably should have; life, work, other writing and laziness all took their toll. On the upside I found out something good.
If you didn't already know, the second season of Overlord anime has been confirmed, so now we can actually see Cocytus fight, yippee!
Review Replies:
.true : thank you for the feedback I will lake those into consideration. And yes a wakizashi is shorter than a longsword. It's a mid-length blade. Did I mess up the wording perhaps?
drburnett: thank you, I try my best.
KiriaMizuno: Shizu is not a typo, its intentional and her 'cover'. let's be honest here, Ainz takes the Name Momon, which is just his previous name with 2 less letters, and Narbarels is the same, just a few letters removed and moved. He is not exactly the best at devising alternative names, but the guardian's complete loyalty makes his inability go unnoticed. So I went with similar cover names for Ninya and CZ.
PervySageChuck: I do not feel bad for you in the least. Also, congrats, you're now evil.
Akuma-Heika: one comment to address numerous reviews. It should be clear, but I've altered cannon and the timeline of events for this. Also the origin for Yato and Zenko is the original Mythology for Kitsune. Just look up the basics for a kitsune on wiki and you'll find it.
Lobisomen616: thank you. A good base for a character always helps. Might use the musket idea in the future. maybe. Hard to say.
levelgap : your feeling isn't wrong. ehehehehe
kevinxia2611: thank you, hope to see more of you around :3
gabrielchiong11: as long as she doesn't tell anyone, not much of a reaction. She'll let it slip eventually though.
Guest on march 28 : you'll have to see. :3
Narberal Waifu: that's a new one. Neither I nor anyone else seemed to notice. Will try to make sure not to make same mistake when she appears next.
Mugen no Tenma: I'm writing her that wat because yes, Pandora is basically her Senpai, and stronger than her. Simply put, being that Pandora had before never met any of them, she is unsure how to react to him.
Alright and that's the review replies. Now we're onto the story, and the rest of the OC's! (Again, thanks to those who gave em, you guys rock.)
And an old friend!
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As Nia, Shizu, Lowgen and Sven walked up to the gate they were supposed to start from the sun was already dipping down toward the horizon, slowly Turing the sky from a bright blue to a brilliant golden yellow that struck the high cemetery walls like a hammer striking hot iron. The walls, despite being grey, looked a warm orange, and belied the potential danger within as they neared the gate.
The gate itself was designed the same as all of them were, a massive portcullis with ramparts above, allowing those guarding to see and react against those that neared from either side. A pair of curved stairways went up both sides of the wall up to the rampart itself, and none of the guards were on the round, all of them standing above and looking down while whispering to themselves.
Besides the guards, there was no one else waiting at the gate.
"Well, we're either early, or screwed." Lowgen said with a grunt as he walked over and sat down on the right stairway. Sven leaned against the wall just a few feet away, and Nia and Shizu seemed content to stand a couple feet away from the walls.
"We're probably early. Twilight is when the sun is completely below the horizon here, right?" Nia asked as she stretched her neck side to side a bit.
"Yes. That's probably it I think." Sven agreed, slightly Turing his head toward the gate.
"We have the time; it would be wise to look over out gear again." Lowgen said as he pulled out his mace and look it over, twirling it about in his hand before moving on.
Sven deftly pulled out a pair of Kukri's, Short blades with a deep curve in their blades and heavy ends, and began looking them over. Once he was done, he put them away and pulled out a pair of fingerless Leather gloves that had slightly bulky knuckles and made sure they were tightly fastened. With a sigh he looked up hoping to see Nia and Shizu looking over their weapons. The two of them were an odd pair, and he was curious about what their weapons actually looked like.
What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat for a moment. Shizu was holding her bow neutrally in one hand, and had pulled a short sword out of the bottom of her quiver of all places. The bow itself was unlike anything he had ever seen, and the short sword was strange as well. The handle and blade both were a dark black that didn't reflect any light, yet he could clearly see the edge of the blade, as if glimmering against darkness.
Nia's weapon was even more surprising though. From the mutterings at the guild it was clear that she apparently was more powerful a magic caster than she had said when explaining her basic abilities, as such Sven expected the sword she carried to be a simple thing, meant only to protect herself if the need arose. Instead she had pulled the blade from its sheathe and was looking it over, a strange expression covering her face. The blade itself was spectacular looking, a mid-length foreign design that somehow exuded strength and magical prowess. Its blade had a strange wavy pattern in it, and the blade itself seemed to softly glow somehow. It was enough that Sven could not help himself and spoke up. "That blade looks interesting, is it special?"
Nia looked up to see Sven looking at her sand nodded as she quickly put the blade back in its sheathe. "Um, Kind of. It's a common enough blade from our lands, lightly enchanted for a Miko's use. But it was gifted to be by the one who taught me how to wield a sword."
"By Momon?" Sven asked making Lowgen shake his head and click his tongue at Sven for asking so many questions.
"Ah, no. By a general from my land. He is stoic and doesn't talk much, but he taught me very much in a short time."
"I see." Sven said uncertainly as he recalled the short explanation they all gave each other on the way over of their class's. Something didn't sit right with it though. "You said on the way over you were a spiritual caster, a Miko. Why do you have a sword though if you're a magic caster?"
"I . . . . Have some skills with a sword, and am trying to combine my capabilities with my magic and the blade to better myself. I am a Miko, but also a Spellblade, technically."
"A Spellblade? I haven't heard of that before."
"Probably a class from her lands." Lowgen suggested as he leaned back against the stairs, seemingly unaffected by the stairs on his backside.
"It is. It combines Spiritual magic and melee combat in one." Nia Answered simply as she suddenly glanced behind, down the road they had come by. "I think our allies are arriving."
Lowgen stood up as Sven looked between Nia and Shizu, squinting against the dipping sun. Just barely visible he could make out the outlines of a five people, but with the sun also there, he couldn't tell anything more. "Wow, how'd you know they were there, I can barely see them!"
"Oh um, I- have good, ears." Nia responded as she shied away from Sven's gaze a bit.
Lowgen only shook his head and let out a sigh at this while they waited for their allies to actually arrive, and after a few minutes of stupidly awkward silence, they finally were able to make out their allies appearances.
The only man out of the five looked to be in his early twenties. He had a thin build and appeared to wear simple leather armor consisting of a chest piece, bracers and simple greaves. All of the leather was a dark brown in color, contrasting slightly with his blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Pouches hung from his belt, and a pair of heavy daggers stuck out from either side of his back, likely held there by sheathes built into his armor. A quick glint from his neck told them he was an iron ranked adventurer, and his equipment struck everyone as a thief or rogue's items of choice.
In a complete reversal of styles, beside him was a figured in full plate armour. However, unlike Momon's plate, or those of higher ranked adventurers, this adventurer's armor was a dull grey, and was covered in thick patches of rust, though it did cover them completely from head to toe. They held a simple shield and a short sword, making them look like a knight, a knight who had dragged their armor out of an ill sealed crypt.
Beside the rusted knight was a young girl, maybe 15, who wore a single black one piece dress and a shroud over her shoulders. The dress went down to her calves, while the shroud covered her shoulder and much of her arms while going down to her knees. Her hair was long and purple; with her eyes so golden they almost matched the light from behind her. Her skin was very white, and it was clear from the simple carved wooden staff in her hand that she was likely a mage.
On the girls other side was another heavily armoured adventurer, making it look like the young mage was flanked by armored guardians. This armored adventurer however, did not wear a full plate. Her armour was shaped around her chest, and had sectioned of leather between all of its pieces, the leather still with bits of fur on all of them, making her look like she was wearing an armored animals trappings. The metal itself was a pale silvery blue, and the woman's hair was long and silver, trailing down her back and flowing about in the wind. She looked like a young woman, maybe in her early twenties, and her red eyes made her feel oddly tolerant. On her back was an absolutely massive tower shield, and in her hands she held a Halberd nearly half again her own height. Both had a snowflake emblem etched onto their faces.
Finally, completely breaking what little pattern could exist between the four before them stood a female Guild clerk wearing a light jacket and carrying a telescope in one hand, and a book and pen in the other. She had long flowing red hair, but had a modest build and looked far more nervous than the four adventurers did. As the all neared the gate, she stepped forward with a nervous smile. "Ah good, your already here!"
"Yeah, and we've been waiting for nearly an hour. Took you long enough to get here." Lowgen said simply, his looks and voice itself doing all the intimidation he intended without needing to force it.
"We were not waiting for an hour." Sven deadpanned with a sigh as the four new adventurers's stepped closer, the female halberd wielding knight showing them a smile.
"Sorry about that, we were a late addition to the extermination, so we lagged behind a bit. Shall we begin the introductions so we can devise a strategy before heading in?" She asked, an Iron plate dangling against her armour, nearly hidden by their similar color.
"Heh, for once someone with a decent grasp of intelligence," Lowgen said with a smirk as he stepped forward. "Names Lowgen Slaaz, Silver Ranked Brawler and Berserker. I can deal with opening the enemy lines well enough. These three are-"
"I think we can introduce ourselves Lowgen. Heaven knows how you'd introduce us," Sven interrupted quickly with a sigh as he composed himself enough to look at their new allies, though he didn't remove his hood as he spoke. "I'm Sven Trayvern, a Silver plate as well; I specialize in quick dispatching of enemies and speedy attacks on the move. I hope we'll be able to work well together." He said, looking to Nia and Shizu.
" Shizu, De- . . Sutouka. Ranger, Assassin. Ranged." Shizu said in her usual emotionless way.
"Sorry about her." Nia apologized with a slight smirk that she was unable to hold back. "Shizu is my Retainer and while she doesn't talk much, she is a very good shot with a bow."
"And you are Momon's Niece that we've heard about then?" The thief looking young man asked quizzically.
"Yes. I am Nia Sakura. I am a Miko, and specialize in Healing, enchanting, and attack magic to an extent. Both Shizu and I are Copper plates. Please take care of us." She said as she bowed at the waist slightly, Shizu copying her action in perfect time, impressing the four new adventurers.
"Wow, two brawlers and two supports, not bad." The thief like young man commented with a chuckle. "Names Myrrdin Avalach, and I'm an Iron plate Thief. I use my daggers mostly. Looks like we'll be holding similar positions Sven, let's see who can kill more!" He suggested, eliciting a nod from Sven.
"Ugh, men," The silver haired knight said with a groan before smiling at Nia and Shizu. "My name is Anastasia Kholodna, please just call me Anya. I'm a Silver plate knight by trade, skill and choice. I'll use my shield only when there the need, and I can take a lot more punishment than it looks like due to my Delayed Reaction talent. I hope to help with the vanguard, and please don't hold back if you need my help with anything." She said with a soft smile, like an older sisters.
A female sounding groan suddenly came from the rusted knight as she took a step forward. "Um, I'm Kris. I'll take the vanguard as well. Oh, and I'm an Iron plate. I guess." she said unsurely, her voice confirming their gender as a woman, sounding likely in her mid to late teens. The size of her armour made it seem morel likely she was a full adult though. There was something odd about her though, and she seemed to take a nervous step back when she glanced at Nia, though only she noticed this.
"My turn I guess." The young girl said as she stepped forward a bit nervously. "I'm Arisa Fluerth, and I'm a wizard, in training, kind of. My magic is pretty strong though! I am just a copper plate however. I'm hoping I can prove my skills with this mission!" She said trying to hold onto her own energy. it was clear at this distance however that she was a little younger, maybe thirteen or fourteen, and that she probably didn't keep good care of herself judging from the way her hair was knotted and matted about. The dress she was wearing looked like it had been initially designed for a girl with more of a bust; though it didn't slip it didn't exactly look perfectly suited for her frame either. Her eyes were full of determination though, however shaky it was.
"Huh, at least we won't be low on overall power." Lowgen said with a shrug as the Guild clerk stepped forward.
"If you all ae introduced, please allow me to explain the finer details of the extermination for you. The objective is to take out as many undead as possible. You each will be paid an amount determined by the average number of undead defeated by your two combined parties. I will be keeping track of the numbers as best I can from the wall with this telescope. Additionally, stronger undead are worth more money, and you may return whenever you wish. The extermination ends when dawn arrives, but you do not have to keep going until then. If you wish to resign and head to an inn you can as long as you understand that doing so ends your participation in the extermination. Please do your best to defeat as many as possible, but also do not endanger yourselves or others. Any questions?"
Everyone looked back and forth at each other for a few seconds before Arisa put her hand up like a girl in school "What if we kill undead that you can't see due to the environment?"
"I will do my best to see all kills to confirm them; however I will accept numbers of kills if I lose sight of you and your allies can confirm their numbers." The clerk responded carefully. "Any other questions?"
"We'll be fine. Let's just get this over with, huh?" Lowgen suggested roughly, causing the clerk to lean away from him ever so slightly.
"V-very well." The clerk said nervously as she took a step t the side, toward the nearest stair way that was away from Lowgen. "I'll head up to the ramparts. When you are all ready, simply call up and I'll have the guards open the gates." she explained as she quickly ran off, leaving everyone with an anxious silence.
"Huh, you scared her off. " Anya said with a sigh.
"Not my fault she scars easy. She should learn to speak faster." Lowgen replied with a shrug as he looked around at everyone. "So, how should we do this, Classic Box strategy, or maybe a blitz?"
"I'd like a blitz." Myrrdin Said simply as her grabbed at his daggers hopefully.
"Of course you would." Anya shook her head." Kris and I however would not be able to keep up. And while Miss Shizu might be able to, I'm not sure Arisa and Nia could. A Blitz would leave you three far to expose." She said looking at lowgen, Sven and Myrrdin, her gaze calm and understanding. She wasn't meaning to simply remove the idea, but she had to explain its deficiencies.
"Sure, but a box Strategy would be too slow!" Myrrdin stressed. "We'd have to keep focusing on staying with the group, out skills wouldn't get used and you'd get to shine. I'm not letting you take all the kills like that."
"It's not to take kills, it's to keep everyone safe" Anya countered calmly.
"Why don't we take a more fluid approach then?" Nia spoke up, drawing everyone's gazes to her. "I mean. A strategy that can change as needed."
"I was thinking the same." Sven said as he used his foot to draw two half circles, a smaller inside a larger one. Why not use a strategy like this. We keep Arisa, Nia and Shizu in the back, and the rest of us spaced up front. We can move forward and deal with any problems that occur. If we look for a wide open area like this while we move we can be safe, and when we do find such an area, we can pull the undead around to us. Those of us up front get support from the back, and we still get to fight as we like and can get assistance as we need it."
Everyone looked at Sven for a moment, making him lean back in a worried manor, until Arisa smiled. "Not bad, I like it!"
"Indeed, it is a good strategy that allows all of us to use our skills. It should be very fluid and easy to help each other. Will there be a large enough are in the cemetery to do this though? I am not from the city and do not know much about it yet." Anya asked.
"There should be." Lowgen said as she turned around and looked at the gate. "The Cometary is very large, and most tombs and mausoleums are built in their own specific areas. There should be a lot of open space for us to use to our advantage."
"We should probably leave then. Otherwise we'll get nowhere." Kris spoke up meekly, her voice hard to hear through the full helmet over her head.
"Agreed. Let's get in there and quit wasting time." Lowgen said as he walked right up to the portcullis and kicked it. "Hey, open the gate up already!"
A few seconds later the portcullis slowly cranked up, and all of them walked through, preparing to undo some undead.
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With the sun now having sunk below the horizon, the cemetery did not simply look 'gloomy'. The dark earth seemed to almost exude malevolence, the tombs and gravestones seemed to vibrate with darkness and un-death, and even the few trees' here, dead from years of neglect, looked ready to reach down and pluck at people's bodies. The cemetery was not simply a place to rest the dead; it felt like a place to join them.
They moved according to the plan Sven had devised. He, Kris, Lowgen, Anya and Myrrdin moved as the vanguard in a loose half circle, with Nia, Shizu and Arisa behind them, watching the edges of their sight for any undead that would attack them. they had been walking for almost a half hour, looking for an open area to attract the undead, but so far they had only seen one straggler, that Arisa had promptly taken care of with a magic arrow and a grin. There seemed to be few Undead around, giving the perfect opportunity to Nia to shuffle slightly closer to Shizu and speak up in a barely audible whisper.
"Have you noticed something off about the rusted knight, Kris?"
Shizu nodded slightly. "Why."
"I keep seeing an odd faint aura around her. I think it's magical, but I'm not sure what it is."
"unknown. Knows not human. Careful." Shizu responded brokenly, making it take a second for Nia to get her meaning.
"She knows were not human you mean?"
Shizu nodded.
"That's bad. We'll have to look into that when we can. Carefully though, we don't want to be discovered by anyone else. Could she be from Nazarick? Maybe a servant of one of the guardians?"
Shizu shook her head from side to side a bit rapidly, causing her scar to loosen and her to quickly retighten it as if her life depended on it.
"I see. . . . Could she be related to whoever attacked Nazarick before, the one who messed with Shalltear?"
" Possible. Should report when able."
"Hey what are you talking about?" Arisa asked as she moved closer to shizu's side, causing her to shy away even more.
"J-Just that everyone is quite different here. It's a little different in our lands I guess." Nia quickly said as she decided to change the direction of the conversation. "If it's not rude, may I ask why you became an adventurer? You seem a little young to put yourself in such danger."
"Ugh, Anya asked the same thing when we met." Arisa groaned in annoyance. "Do I really look that young? I'm already fourteen!"
"It's not, that young, but are you alone or with someone most times?"
"I'm traveling with Anya. We met a couple months ago in a town about a week north of here. She came from a town much further north looking for work and we decided to travel together." Arisa answered cheerfully, though the way her eyes dashed about told just how nervous she was. "What about you two? You come from a place far to the south right? What's it like?"
"Err, that is, hard to say." Nia said unsurely. What was she supposed to say?!
"Political situation, unstable." Shizu suddenly added, giving Nia the basis she needed.
"Yeah, the situation is strange back home. That's why Lord Momon had to return. I really shouldn't say too much."
"What is that supposed to mean!" Arisa nearly demanded, looking oddly adorable from being so annoyed at her question being avoided.
"She means that her home might be in danger and she doesn't want to reveal anything that would put it in more danger, Arisa. " Anya spoke up with a smile. "Like how if you told bandits where your village was."
Arisa suddenly turned sullen as her shoulder lifted up as if to hide her head. She pulled her arms close to her body as if she was cold, and her steps shortened as her legs seemed stiff and unwilling to move. "Okay, I understand." She said, looking as if she was on the verge of crying.
"Buck up Arisa, that won't happen ever again." Anya said seriously as she and the rest of the first line stopped suddenly. "Besides, I think we've found the perfect place."
Before them was a large circular stone clearing with a large tree off to one side. There were a couple large tombs in the distance, and they could clearly see a couple dozen skeletons around and in the distance.
"I think this is a good spot. The undead are a ways away though." Lowgen said simply as he glanced around in slight annoyance.
Nia looked around as well noticing that the undead were awfully spread out. Then she noticed Shizu eyeing the nearby tree, as if her gaze was locked on it. "Go ahead Shizu."
Shizu nodded and suddenly ran towards the tree, surprising everyone as she jumped at its trunk. Her feet pressed again it and she rocketed up like a cat until she found a large enough branch to hold her weight and sprung up onto it. With deft movement she quickly pulled out her bow and an arrow, notched it, and aimed at the furthest grouping of skeletons.
Then she let the string go. Her arrow flew silently through the air almost impossible to see, until it collided with a skeletons shoulder, shattering it and dropping the skeletons arm to the ground with a clatter. The skeleton immediately turned around and began heading toward them, followed by every skeleton near it. "Shall I pull more?" Shizu then asked as she looked down at everyone staring at her in surprise.
Everyone looked around to see only the one group of nine skeletons slowly trudging toward them, bones shattering and armor shifting to create a dull but ominous sound. "Alright, here they come. If you could pull some more and pick off stragglers that'd be great!" Anya said as she took a step towards the oncoming group of skeletons and brandished her halberd.
Finally something that I can get aboard!" Lowgen said with a chuckle as he, Kris, Sven and Myrrdin all took up their positions to hold the area around the tree. Let them come, we'll tear those shambles apart!"
All of them looked more than ready to go, and as the skeletons got close Nia let out a sigh. We'll support you, just don't go too far. Reinforce armour, Magic weapon." immediately a green glow washed over everyone's bodies and their weapons gained a faint yellow aura around them.
"Heh, this makes things simpler" Myrrdin said with a chuckle as Arisa turned to Nia with a scowl.
"I was going to reinforce everyone!"
"My enchanting is likely stronger, and we don't want to be overly confident here. Next time maybe." Nia said as she placed her free hand on the pommel of her blade and prepared to cast magic with the other.
Arisa just glared at Nia until Anya spoke up. "Arisa, with only two of you, you could leave Nia to cover Sven and Lowgen, could you focus on helping Kris and I?"
"Okay!" She quickly responded, allowing Nia to sigh to herself and look back up, only to find that the first skeletons were now reaching them. It was about to begin.
The first person to make contact was Anya. Two skeletons rushed her position, one of them being the first that lost its shield arm. A heavy swing from her halberd collided with its side and sent it flying in pieces, and the others strike was simply too simple to not see coming. With a quick sidestep she moved out of the way and spun around, catching the second on her halberds edge and sending it away like the first.
Next was Lowgen, and only because he had held back from rushing forward into the skeleton ranks. Pulling out his axe and mace he let a trio of skeletons near him and smirked. Each of them tried to attack simultaneously, getting in each other's way and giving him the perfect opening. With one simply swing he crushed the spine of one with his mace, and knocked the head clean off another and in to the others, unbalancing it. A swift kick knocked it onto the ground with a clatter, and his mace finished it off without a single issue.
Sven and Myrrdin were having no trouble either, double teaming a small squad of skeletons without even meaning too. One of them would take the one side of the group high, while the other took the opposite side low, causing skeletons to fall back against and limit each other. Their pairs of blades, though unable to cut through the skeletons assortment of armour, made quick work of their fragile bones, allowing them to easily strike at their exposed joints, or simply knock them into others.
Kris was using a simple yet effective tactic common to those who preferred the shield. Each time an opponent would strike her, she blocked it with the shield, or even used the shield to parry the bow, and then when the skeleton was open, she swung her sword down on their exposed necks. For simple unintelligent skeletons it was almost a pathetically easy tactic, and her heavy full plate made her simply unhindered by their lopsided and inaccurate strikes. They all fell before her a strike each.
Behind them, Shizu, Nia and Arisa were doing their jobs as well. Shizu's bow never seemed to stop firing; taking out stragglers like clockwork, and striking any skeleton that was even close to hitting anyone from their blind spots. Arisa kept a constant stream of Magic arrows flying over everyone's heads, destroying and weakening the armour of skeletons yet to arrive and already in combat. And Nia was healing anyone who needed it, while occasionally firing some magic arrows of her own whenever the chance arose.
In all, they were doing extremely well against the slow tide of skeletons, and after a while their numbers seemed to be dwindling down to bare handfuls.
"Ha, this is almost too easy!" Myrrdin said cockily as he vaulted over a headless skeletons shoulder and kicked another head off with ease.
"It's not that it is too easy, we just have good support!" Anya replied as Nia cast another lesser Restoration spell over her, causing her scrapes and wounds to knit on their own. It wasn't instant, but it allowed her to keep going, and she kept being healed by it over time. She liked it more than other healing spells actually. Over time healing was great during a fight!
"Were almost through them all anyway. This will be a good payout even if they are weak on their own." Lowgen admitted with a grin as his mace crunched through a skull and down the skeletons exposed ribcage. "If we had been on our own or in smaller groups it likely would not have gone as well though. We should thank whoever decided that groups would be together."
"I agree, this was a good idea." Sven said as he took a few steps back form a just shattered skeleton and looked back to see Nia, Shizu and Arisa not moving. "What's wrong you three?"
"I- I just sensed something. Its, I can't- we can't-" Arisa tried to speak, her voice unwilling to cooperate.
"Something powerful was just cast and- it feels like it's coming this way." Nia said, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her face.
"Hill, between tombs." Shizu said after a second, drawing everyone's eyes to the place she pointed to with a drawn arrow.
At the edge of their vision, on a hill between two large tombs, a massive hulk seemed to trudge toward them, getting larger with each step. As it finally broke free of the tombs shadow, everyone caught side of it and the air was sucked out of their lungs.
Standing nearly twenty five feet tall was a giant. It was however definitely a denizen of the cemetery. Its flesh was rotted and slipping off its body in sections while bone stuck out of others seemingly at random. What was left of its brain was half sliding out of massive hole in the side of its head, and its eyes held a malevolence that hadn't existed in the skeletons. In its one hand it held what appeared to be a tree trunk, and it wore what was once likely iron armour, now rusted, chipped, pitted and cracked, looking like it was help together by will alone.
"A Zombie Giant?!" Sven exclaimed in shock and fear as he took a step back.
"You have got to be kidding me." Lowgen said with a growl. "No amount of money is worth this. Ugh, how'd I get into this?"
"We need to leave." Anya said in fright. "Zombies are bad enough, but a zombie giant . . . only a group of gold adventurers or higher could handle it. It's easily C or B class; we need to retreat, now!"
"That may not be an option." Nia said with a gulp as the Giant began slowly walking toward them, ignoring the skeletons before it to the extent that it simply crushed them underfoot. There was something else though, an aura around it that was different than the rest of the undead.
'Dam I wish I knew what half these things I can see meant.' Nia thought to herself as she stepped up between Lowgen and Anya and grabbed the handle of her Moonblade.
"Get back, take Arisa and run, we'll hold it off as best we can." Anya said as she let one hand go of her halberd and pulled her tower shield off her back.
"No." Nia said as she took a few more steps forward, surprising everyone but Shizu.
"What?" Lowgen said, voicing his surprise.
Nia felt something well up within her as she spoke. "I said no. if we run, it will just follow us back to the gate. It has to die here. "Ah, that was it; she was feeling a confidence that she had never before felt. She knew she could beat it as she was now. She could beat it now because he was a Kitsune. "Shizu, target it's eyes, then go for its legs to limit its mobility!"
"Right," Shizu replied as she stood fully up from her crouched position and pulled out an arrow, knocking it and pulling back the string the same as before. She did nothing different, but everything about her felt different as she moved.
"What? No! Even if we blind it, that is a zombie, not a skeleton! To do that you'd need to carve through the flesh, and it's a giant, we'll never kill it!" Myrrdin exclaimed n fear as he began stepping backwards.
"We don't need to kill it." Nia said as she pulled her Moonblade out, giving everyone a full view of its glowing color. "The armor on its shoulders is bulky and should limit its movement. If I can get onto its back, I can destroy it. We just need to limit its movement and stop it from moving!"
In that moment Shizu let loose her arrow, and it flew flawlessly across the dark cemetery, a glint in the night that quickly arced right into one of the zombie's eyes with a sickening squelch that was somehow audible even from the distance. The giant shifted a bit to that side as if looking for the one who struck it, just as Shizu took out and nocked another arrow.
"It's back right? So we need to cut its legs and drop it to its knee's then?" Sven asked with a grin as he began nervously rolling his shoulders, the giant still trudging toward them.
"You are not seriously thinking of agreeing with idea, Sven!" Lowgen exclaimed as he too took a step back while muttering to himself. "This is so wrong."
"It sounds good. It'll work! If we can keep it busy we can slice the ankles and drop it!" Sven said, his eyes were wide and his breath was ragged. It was clear he was terrified, but he also seemed to look forward to the idea, and it was clear his adrenaline was pumping faster than his blood probably was.
"I'll keep skeletons off you." Kris suddenly spoke up as she stepped up and began walking forward, her sword and shield brandished causally. Her armor was still rusted, but in the stark moonlight, and before a giant, her calm vice and cool movement made her look like a golden Valkyrie as she moved.
as in in sync, Kris, Sven and Nia all rushed forward, Kris pushing ahead of them and holding her shield high as a small mass of skeletons was directly between them and the zombie giant. Kris swung her shield out at the first skeleton to cross her, and its bones flew over the heads of the others as they lunged at her, Sven and Nia dodging around them as Kris held their attention. A dozen meters away from the giant, Shizu loosed another arrow, striking the giants other eye, and causing it to reel backwards with a roar.
"Ugh, dammit, we have to help!" Anya yelled as she and Lowgen rushed forward, adding their blades to the conflict and pushing back the skeletons that were up till then about to overwhelm the solo Kris. In this moment Sven and Nia had gotten to the Giant to see it thrashing about. Dodging the blows of the tree and it' feet Sven dropped onto one knee and slid beside its foot, slashing both blades into one of the giant's ankles. He felt the remains of tendons snap and quickly rolled away from the foot and onto his own feet, just in time to see that the giants thrashing was keeping Nia away from the other ankle, and was instead firing small bolts of flame at the giant from her open palm! Before he could run over and slice the other ankle though, a stream of magic arrows, and regular arrows flew through the air and turned its ankle into a porcupine, shredding the rotting flesh. Sven risked a glance over to see Arisa sitting in the tree with Shizu, and her staff glowing vibrantly as Shizu pulled out a pair of arrows and notched them. When he looked back he could see their arrows had revealed, but not cut the tendon, so he quickly pulled out a throwing knife, and whipped it at the tendon, all while he hoped it would strike.
His hope proved fruitful as the knife fell right into the tendon, slicing its rotting core with a clean cut, and removing the last thing keeping the giant standing.
Without its tendons, the giant fell forward onto its chest with a heavy crash, but quickly used its arms to prop itself up, and began trying to swing at anyone near it. And Kris had gotten closer due to dealing with the skeletons.
"Look out!" Lowgen called out, a half second too soon.
Kris looked to see the danger, only to have the tree trunk the giant held crash into her armour, sending her barreling into the remaining skeletons, shattering them like sticks under an avalanche.
In response Arisa let loose a stream of magic arrows at the Giants arm, tearing into the flesh around its elbow and making it difficult to move it. By that time, Sven was throwing knives at the giants back, making improvised grips that Nia scampered up until she was just between its shoulder blades.
"PURIFY!" Nia shreiked as she plunged her blade into the Giant and pushed her magic through it.
The giant immediately began thrashing around faster, trying to reach up to knock her off, but its head and the armor on its shoulders was in the way, and a swing from Anya's Halberd stopped it from trying to use the tree to strike her. After a few seconds a pale glow began forming around the giant, and a second later, it stopped moving, its body seeming to rot at a far quicker pace as everyone backed off away from it. Within the minute its body had rotted away into nothing but bones and a bit of odor, and even then the bones quickly began to snap and break, turning to dust in the wind.
For a few seconds everyone didn't move, to shocked by what had just happened, then Anya suddenly gasped and looked around, "Kris!" She yelled out as she ran over to her body and knelt down beside her. "I can't hear her breathing!" She said as Nia, and Sven, ran over; Lowgen looking out for any strangling skeletons.
"Let me use a healing-"
"No I'm fine!" Kris suddenly said as he hand shot up and grabbed Nia's wrist, surpassing both her and Anya as she sat up. "I'm fine."
"But you were sent flying! You were hit by a tree!" Anya exclaimed. "Even in armour that would seriously-"
"I said I'm fine!" Kris nearly shouted, before scooting back a bit, probably in embarrassment. "I mean, my armor may not look like much, buts it's strong. I'm fine."
Anya looked at Kris as she got up and walked over to the tree that Shizu and Arisa wee now standing under her footing looking more than a little confused, before she looked Nia straight in the ryes. "I didn't hear any breathing, I swear."
"Maybe she breathes lightly?" Nia suggested awkwardly as they both got up and walked over to the tree, to find Lowgen now looking around while Arisa seemed to be saying something energetically to Kris.
"Where is Myrrdin?" Lowgen asked as they walked over, causing them to look around. He wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Did he get attacked?" Kris asked, acting like getting hit had never happened.
"He ran, back towards gate." Shizu said calmly as she glanced around, seemingly uninterested in her own words. "No more undead in area."
Lowgen and Anya let out simultaneous sighs as Lowgen leveled his gaze at Sven and Nia. "Let's head back, and talk about what just happened."
Nia, Sven, and Even Arisa all shivered from Lowgen's tone. It was going to be a long walk back.
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Two figures sat on the roof of a Tomb in the Cemetery, watching the group of adventurers walk away, yelling and talking amongst each other. The body of the zombie giant was almost completely gone now, and it irked the one person greatly.
"Dam, I wasn't expecting them to kill a zombie Giant so easily. I feel like all that work summoning it was wasted!" the young man said angrily. He had wild blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His body was covered by a black cloak, and a simple knife sat on his belt. For a Zuranon cultist, it was a relatively common look.
"Indeed, she's pretty strong." the woman behind him said with a disturbing giggle.
"yes. Few of us have dealt with spiritual type casters before. This could make things complicated." He said as she turned to look at the woman, "what do you think we should do, Clementine?"
Clementine removed her hood to reveal her face. It looked the exact same s it had before she had died. "We kill everyone close to that Dam Elder Lich of course! If that girl is actually related to him, I don't think she's human. So we could simply kill her, or reveal her identity and have her killed by the entire city!" She suggested sadistically, clearly liking the idea better.
"That will take time."
"That's fine. I can always find something to do, hmm?" Clementine said with an almost sensual hum. "How are we going to do it though, mister Chuky?"
The cultist, whose real name was Chuk Sagee, let out a sigh, then his lips twisted into a violent smirk, "That girl of Mormon's is masquerading as an adventurer just like he did, so why don't the two of us do the same?"
Clementine looked at him for a moment, and then smirked. "You think you are even close to my equal?"
"Of course not." Chuk Said with a wave of his hand. "But with Khajiit and everyone else gone, I am free to conduct my own experiments. I believe I could be capable of approaching your strength if given time. Besides, your resurrection has left you with only a fragment of your old strength. We'll both need time to gather the strength to get both of our revenges."
Clementine smiled evilly. "You're much more intelligent than I gave you credit for. How were not old Khajiit' second with such a good head?"
"It's because I am this intelligent that I wasn't." Chuk said with a smile as he turned back to look out at the cemetery. "If it had been known I was so smart and manipulative, I wouldn't have been able to convince other cultists to do as I wanted for me, and I wouldn't have been able to skip out of the ritual that was sure to fail. Khajiit had skill and power, but simply making a city of death and killing everyone is far too simple. It would be much better to make people kill each other and seek us out to join of their own volition. When someone think it is their choice, it is far easier to control them!"
Clementine smiled sensually as she walked up behind chuk and rested her arms on his head, allowing her breasts to press against his back. Something far more uncomfortable that it normally would be, due to the crumpled remains of her armour that she still wore. "Not bad. If you manage to get stronger I just might fall for you, if I cared for such things."
Chuk grinned. "Actually I had a thought about that. The resurrection may have been incomplete."
"Oh, how so?"
"It may have altered your personality very slightly, though I am unsure how exactly, you do seem slightly different than the few times I saw you."
Clementine was silent for a second. "I suppose I do feel a bit different, but I thought it was from being resurrected. But what does that have to do with this?"
Chuk smiled. "We'll need to devise some alteration to our looks and personalities, at least publicly. Otherwise we won't be able to infiltrate the adventurer's guild."
"I see." Clementine said calmly before leaning against him a bit harder. "Alright, if I get to kill people in secret still while we work on our revenge, I'll play along. It's been a while since I've changed my looks. Let's get started, on all of it!"
Authors note: I did some checking and nothing I could find said anything about what exactly happened to clementine's body after it disappeared. So I feel absolutely no remorse for this.
:3
Ps. also, I will not be showing the entire equipment and skill list ever chapter, just the stat growths. Otherwise it'll be huge all the time and there is no need for that. Equipment and skills will show when one gets added. Spell list will stay, but descriptions will not be there unless is a new spell.
And yes, wizard is up a level and that makes 7 magic ranks. wait for next chapter.
Name: Ninya
Title: Apprentice of the Tomb of Nazarick
Race: Kitsune
Racial Levels:
Zenko Kitsune (lvl2 – 22%) – Good kitsune, levels increase shapeshifting capability and shift Alignment in the good direction. increases max mana by .10% per level after 2.
Yako Kitsune (lvl1 – 40%) – Evil kitsune, levels increase illusion and charming magic capabilities, and shifts alignment towards chaotic with the desire for power, but not true evil. increases max mana by .10% per level after 2.
A Kitsune can only level one of either Zenko or Yako Kitsune to lvl10.
Class level's:
Wizard (5) 100%
Miko (1) 58%
Fighter (1)6% -
Spellblade (1) 2% - Spellblade levels add to total magic levels only when it hits lvl3 and there after.
Level total: 11
Tails – (1) - Gets another tail every 7 magic levels. Unlocks next tier of magic and boosts magical power.
Spell List –––
Fortify armour
Magic arrow
Light healing
Message
Foxfire
Fire arrows
Lesser Cleanse
Lesser Purge Purify
Corrupt
Minor Illusion
Minor Charm
Magic Weapon
Lesser Restoration
Force