In the depths a sound echoed, the sound of a thousand hammers striking hot iron. Day and night, without rest, a thousand puppets were building the foundation of an army.
Thick smokes filled the air, the only source of light in the form of a horde of flaming furnaces. No life could survive in this place, but no life was needed.
The surface wasn't looking any better either. Few trees remained, and the ground looked grey, sick, unfit for life. Freshly created tools were smashing against ancient stone walls, reducing little by little the destroyed city to a pile of rocks.
But those rocks weren't left sitting there, slowly being used to repair and improve the crumbling city's walls. Every street was filled with thousands of undeads, each doing his part to bring the city back to its past glory.
Regular clashes with the creatures of darkness still occurred of course, but they represented less and less of threat as time passed.
Eventually the situation had been deemed safe enough for scouting parties to be sent out in the wilderness. Mapping the city's surroundings took some time, but they nonetheless managed to do it after a few weeks.
To the east laid an impressive mountain range, which severely impaired their exploration efforts.
The north and south were both equally filled with uninteresting hills and forests.
To the west however flowed an important river, and they soon found out that it ended with a massive sea, water stretching as far as their dead eyes could see.
Despite the relative smoothness of their operations, the problem of ammunition had begun to show its ugly head. The Necromancer first tried to compensate for this by forging more melee weapons, but the ensuing drop in fighting efficiency was worrying to say the least.
A shipment of fire dust should soon arrive, but he couldn't afford to remain dependent on others for too long. That is why he was currently possessing one of his undeads to observe a cave bellow his city.
Around him a couple dozens undeads were hard at work expending the underground room. The double purpose behind this effort was firstly to increase the hidden space available to him, and secondly to look for veins of fire dust.
For the time being Kieffner was adamant on keeping most of his activities hidden from the wider world. He was surrounded by unknown forces, all of which could be his enemies.
His truce with the nearby kingdom of Vale was shaky at best, only existing because of a temporary mutual benefit. They will probably turn on him the moment his hostages disappear.
On the other hand, that Ozpin guy seemed at least somewhat agreeable. He didn't seem very smart, but his heart was in the right place. Maybe this relationship wasn't doomed to fail after all. He only had to find a way to get rid of the other one, that General.
Speaking of him, one of his undeads was still by his side, serving both as a messager and a threat. Deciding that it was time to pay him a visit he managed to mentally locate the minion in question, and after some magical focusing, brutally jerked his mind out of its current host.
During a brief moment he could feel his mind travelling far over the horizon, only to eventually reach a city vibrant with life, so unlike his own.
Instead of the ruins he had gotten accustomed to stood a herd of colorful building with no apparent pattern. The streets were filled with the livings, he could see a few of them stop to talk to each other, eating together, and simply having fun.
It was only now that he realized he was looking at the city below through a thick glass window. Taking a look around him, he deduced from the orange colored steel crates laying next to him that he was in some kind of dust storage room. The only exit was barred by a massive metallic door.
The ground itself was littered with a dozen of corpses, most of them soldiers. Quickly making sure that no one else was around, Kieffner discreetly raised the deads.
Before they had time to instinctively get up, he ordered all but two of them to remain unmoving on the floor, faking being dead. That trick had helped him many times already, and would probably serve him for many years to come.
He then approached the nearby window to observe his reflection. To his surprise the young woman that was his host was remarkably well preserved, the only sign of her death in the form of a deep wound through her belly, almost snapping her in half.
He could feel the same unknown aura that his champion had. It felt very strange, like he was walking through water. He felt a great deal of strength too, way more than what this body should have.
And now he had a left arm once more. It wasn't the first time he personally controlled a healthy undead, but it was always nice to have everything be in its place.
Her sunglasses proved perfect to hide the glow in his undead's eyes. Now he only had to hide the wound. Strolling back to the pile of corpses in the middle of the room, he managed to find one with a relatively intact jacket.
He mentally ordered the corpse to retire his upper clothes, before putting the light jacket on himself. Giving a last look around to see if he missed anything, he then left the room through the only apparent exit.
He was quite surprised when the door opened on its own, only to reveal a dozen or so soldiers along with four colorfully clothed warriors.
"I want to see your General." Kieffner said confidently. After all two of his undeads were in plain sight behind him, and they could easily explode the dust even if his host died.
The soldiers remained unmoving for a few seconds, before one of them put his left hand on his ear and whispered a few words. After a moment the man nodded and spoke to the undead.
"General Ironwood has agreed to your request. We will show you the way, but don't try anything funny."
A small smile was his only answer, but he followed nonetheless. Their journey through the airship allowed him to admire the strange piece of technology. To be perfectly honest with himself there were still many things he didn't get, most of them actually, but it was only a question of time before he learnt everything there was to know.
That was the only real drive of a Necromancer, knowledge. Some had treasures of gold, but his kind treasured only knowledge. To understand the laws behind this world, to understand oneself, could one really be free without this ?
This flow of thoughts was interrupted when the group finally reached their destination. Kieffner was shortly amazed by the spacious room they entered, full of strange lights and glowing things, before reminding himself of his situation.
He noticed the General's presence not so far away, but the latter didn't acknowledge the necromancer's own presence until he stood right next to him. When he was finally willing to look at his guest, the General stared at him with a barely hidden disgust.
"What's the problem General ? You should be happy to talk about our lucrative relationship." If his opponent wasn't even willing to offer fake politeness, Kieffner felt justified in doing the same.
Ironwood responded by crossing his arms behind his back, soon followed by the sound of cracking knuckles. He took a deep breath, his face visibly relaxed and after a few seconds it had become an almost perfect poker face.
"May I know... what you want from me ?" The General articulated with some difficulties.
The necromancer slowly walked right next to his interlocutor, before putting his right arm on Ironwood's shoulders. The latter visibly tensed up at the act, but didn't react otherwise. Kieffner raised his left arm in the air before as if to grab something. He then began to speak.
"My dear, my dear... Tell me, what is it that you treasure the most ?"
"Is it simple personal power ?"
Ironwood seemed confused, but didn't answer the question.
"Your fellow soldiers perhaps ?"
The guards next to them exchanged a quick look between them. No one intervened.
"Or maybe something else entirely, something greater... Tell me."
The General was now feeling uneasy, sweat was appearing on his brow, and his mouth opened and closed many times without any sound coming out. Eventually he managed to give a coherent answer.
"Do you often ask such questions to people ? Because you see 'I' don't have time to waste with those riddles. So unless you want me to terminate our agreement, I would suggest you get to the point."
Figuring that he should stop testing the man's limits, Kieffner stopped embracing the General and took a few steps forwards, so that he was now facing the city below with Ironwood behind him. Without looking away from the city, he began to talk.
"I have come to realize, that my domain was in dire need of some more... how would you say... precise, definition."
There was a small door next to them, apparently leading to the outside world. Without waiting for an answer the necromancer continued.
"I talked with Ozpin about a zone in which no one but me would be allowed to act. The time has come for precise borders to be drawn."
Upon hearing those words Ironwood gestured towards a nearby crewman, who quickly worked with a strange machine until a map made of light appeared out of thin air between them.
"So what did you have in mind ?" Asked the General while gesturing at the map.
Kieffner's first reaction was one of shock. He knew that this place was far from his homeland, but when he stared at the map and was unable to recognize anything there was no hiding it, he was in another world.
But once the initial shock passed, he felt more and more at ease. His family dead, his enemies able to kill him on a whim, there weren't many things holding him back to his old world. Maybe he would try to come back, once he was wiser, once he was stronger.
Leaving those thoughts for later, Kieffner took a moment to appreciate the picture. It was more accurate than anything his undeads could do, yet he managed to find some important landmarks they had found.
A red dot showed their current location, the City of Vale. The ruins that had become his home could be seen not far away, Mountain Glenn it was called. The mountain range his minions where exploring could be seen in details, each individual peak being represented. He could now see its true extent, running from north to south along most of the continent, it truly was an impressive obstacle.
He could also admire the immense ocean to which their neighboring river led. Covering most of the world uninterrupted, it was undoubtedly of the outmost importance to secure this ocean.
He first pointed towards the mountains next to his city, indicating an area stretching from the southern part of the mountain range to almost halfway towards Vale itself.
The General was unfazed and replied in a completely flat tone.
"The northern part will cause problem, I cannot let you spread over this line." Said Ironwood while using some kind of metallic pen to draw a line some distance under what Kieffner had chosen.
To be honest those territories didn't have much worth anyway, but it would grant him more time to prepare if they ever decided to attack him.
Now that the northern borders were dealt with, the necromancer borrowed his interlocutor's pen to design an area that covered most of the southern half of the landmass.
Ironwood reacted to this grandiose claim with a cackle that would have degenerated into a full blown laughter if it hadn't been for his restraining efforts.
"Are you mad ? Even with your powers there's no way you will be able to hold onto so much territory."
"Perhaps I'm mad, or perhaps you underestimate my power."
Truth be told there wasn't any real downside for claiming such a large area. It wouldn't even mean that he would have to protect the locals or have any actual hold on the region. It just meant that he could do whatever he wanted there without risking the intervention of half this world's powers.
When the General understood that Kieffner was being serious, his smile faded, before he put his hand on his chin for a few moments.
"Listen I don't know what you're thinking but there's no way you will get so much."
He then added a line cutting the continent in two, just before the Vacuan desert.
"You will have to do with this, at least for now. We'll see how you manage what you already have before giving you anything more."
The necromancer guessed that Ironwood probably wasn't expecting this deal to last long enough for any of this to be relevant. It was just to have a bargaining chip in case it did last.
And to be honest he was getting bored of all this.
"Seems fine to me. I will let you deal with the details." He said while waving his hand dismissively.
A small grumble escaped Ironwood's lips, but he nevertheless nodded affirmatively. When he gestured his soldiers to escort the corpse back to its place Kieffner suddenly objected.
"No, I don't think I will. I'm gonna do some tourism in this city if you don't mind." The tone let it be known that this wasn't a question.
"What ?! That would be breaking the treaty !"
"Don't worry, I won't kill anyone. Also the treaty only forbids military action, so I'm not technically in the wrong."
Before anyone had time to answer the necromancer rushed towards the nearby door, forced it open, and jumped out.
Wind was hitting his face as he was confidently racing towards the ground. It was weird to know that even if he died right now, it wouldn't actually damage his own body or soul.
However he didn't die when hitting the ground. Instead the stony surface he made contact with broke under his weight and he ended up inside a small crater. That aura thing truly was a pathway to many abilities.
He quickly put his sunglasses back in its place, rearranged some of his clothes, and began walking in random direction. It wasn't long before he reached a street filled with peoples, but thankfully no one seemed to particularly notice him.
He noticed a coffee on the other side of the road, but just as he started crossing the street he heard a screeching sound and instinctively leaped backwards at an inhuman speed, just in time to dodge some kind of vehicle racing through the street.
The vehicle came screeching to an halt after a few seconds, and its driver hurriedly got out. When the man noticed what looked like a young woman that he almost ran over, his face contorted into a mix of anger and worry.
"Are you alright ? You shouldn't cross the road out of nowhere. Younglings those days..."
An idea suddenly flashed through Kieffner's mind. He could get something out of this.
"I'm alright kind Sir. I will be more careful next time."
He then searched through his pockets and faked surprise when nothing was found. He followed this by looking at a nearby sewer drain with fear, before looking back at the driver.
"Oh no ! I think my wallet fell down there !"
The necromancer crouched next to the hole in a fake sobbing and stood there for a few seconds for dramatic effect. The driver seemed at loss of words, and like he was truly sorry for the lady before him. Now was the moment of truth.
"Mister, I'm sorry that I have to ask this, but could lend me some money ? Not much, just enough to head back home."
The man looked conflicted at this, and honestly Kieffner too was starting to feel guilty, lying to a seemingly nice man. But eventually the driver pulled out his own wallet, and gave the lady a few colored cards.
"I'm at fault here, I should have driven more carefully. Take this, to compensate for your losses."
The Necromancer had absolutely no idea how much those things were worth, but it was probably better to be vague and polite just in case.
"Thank you very much Sir. If only there were more kind people like you out there, the world would be a better place." And a little bit of flattery never hurts.
The driver answered with an awkward giggle, before heading back to his vehicle. Kieffner tried crossing the road once again, this time with more caution, and managed to avoid another accident.
The coffee shop that now stood before him was pretty frugal in apparence, yet still remarkably clean. Like many other shops this one too had a massive window through which the interior could be seen, and with a few menus and ads plastered over it.
There was almost nothing he recognized on either the menus or the ads. But what's the point of having a good time without surprises ? He pushed open the door and entered the small building.
The shop was almost completely empty, with the exception of three clients enjoying their meals and someone else he could hear talking in the neighboring room.
There was a foreign odor hanging in the air, unknown yet not unpleasant. A corner of the room looked particularly comfy, and the necromancer was soon sitting on a chair almost as comfortable as the one back in mountain Glenn.
While waiting for a waiter or waitress to come he began observing what others were eating. It was mostly sweets in all honesty, but some of them were also sipping at their coffee cups.
Coffee was an incredible luxury back home, but here peoples didn't seem rich or anything and yet they still had access to it. That was the origin of his interest in this shop in the first place. How could a modest-looking establishment have access to such an expensive good ?
A few light footsteps next to him told him that a waitress had arrived.
"Good afternoon, what can I..."
Kieffner turned around to see why the waitress had stopped talking, only to be faced with...
"You're that bunny girl !"
The bunny girl in question was currently in a state of unadulterated shock. That was quite the embarrassing situation, and he had to find a way out of it.
But before he had time to do anything, the girl's expression morphed into one of pure rage. He saw he pull out a small device, which quickly transformed into a glowing blue sword.
It was only thanks to his newfound reflexes that Kieffner managed to block the following attack by kicking the table before him upwards with his knee.
"Listen, I know this doesn't look good, but I'm sure you will find it in yourself to forgive me."
Those weren't the right words apparently, and it seemed to strengthen the girl's onslaught. Kieffner rolled out of his sitting position, grabbing his chair on the way. He tried to throw it at his opponent but she sliced it in two with little to no effort.
He was unable to dodge the kick that followed and got thrown through the window, abruptly hitting the ground alongside an untold amount of glass shards.
The crazed girl leaped behind him and tried to stab him, only for her to miss and the sword to end up stuck in the ground. A crowd was beginning to gather around them, yet few seemed actually scared.
To his surprise the bunny girl's sword transformed into a pistol of the same blue glow. He wasn't used to those weapons, and was thus unable to react properly as to dodge the incoming shots.
He felt each of them hit him like a battering ram, yet managed to remain standing. A single bullet missed him only to fly barely over a nearby bystander's head.
His opponent reacted with a growl and one instant later was charging at him with a sword in her hand. He avoided the swipe that followed by leaning slightly backwards, only to be taken by surprise when she kneed him in the leg.
There was nothing he could do to stop his fall, and his torso barely had time to touch the ground before being stabbed by the girl.
His mind started racing as his opponent pulled out the blade. His puppet wouldn't actually die from this, but it staying alive would reveal his powers to the world.
But if he played dead, the outside world would see this as a deranged lady killing her teammate for no apparent reason. He felt kinda bad for his old hostage, but he would rather help himself over someone else.
"Hehe... Your loss..." He said while faking gasping for air.
This body was already clinically death, so there was no need for him to hold his breath or anything like that. He let his head hit the stone road, and the last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the conflicted face of someone he just condemned to a life of reject, with a single tear rolling down her cheek.
For a moment nothing happened, everything was quiet, and then a single scream pierced the calm evening air. It was quickly followed by many others, soon after he could hear people running around in panic.
Once a few minutes had passed by the situation had quieted once again, now the only thing he could hear was the ragged breathing of the girl crouched next to him.
After what seemed like an eternity to him, half a dozen people arrived and two of them worked on lifting his unmoving body. He also heard the familiar sound of handcuffs being put on someone while he himself was being carried away.
He was soon put down on a metallic floor, only for a strange sensation to appear, like he was on a kind of boat. Could he be onboard a small airship ? That was definitely a possibility, yet he didn't dare open his eyes ever so slightly to verify.
It took another unbearable amount of time for the vehicle to touch the ground once again, and this in a place he was expecting. There were no wandering souls here, like was usual around an hospital or cemetery. Just where were they dragging him ?
Just as he was starting to get seriously worried about all of this, his lifters suddenly stopped, right before unceremoniously throwing him on the ground. For a moment nothing happened, he heard his lifters closing a door behind them. There seemed to be no one around, and he was about to use his magical senses to make sure of this when a voice echoed in the room.
"I suppose you think that was terribly clever ?"
Kieffner hesitantly opened his eyes, and in front of him appeared to be a certain Headmaster.
"Ow come on, have you seen the looks on their faces ? I mean me neither but it was probably hilarious."
"I'm not even talking about that you insolent brat. Not only did you kill every single member of a team except for one, but someone in this twisted brain of yours thought it would be a good idea to visit the sole survivor wearing the corpse of her deceased partner."
"I swear it wasn't..." The Necromancer began to argue before being interrupted.
"Honestly Kieffner, I am more disappointed in you than anything. I believed that there was some good deep inside you. It seems I was wrong."
For some reason the disappointment in the man's tone hurt Kieffner more than any amount of anger.
"I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear ? Because I don't know what else to tell you."
"I am afraid that the time for empty words has long since passed. I'm gonna tell you a secret, the airship you supposedly hold hostage is being emptied of anything of value right as we speak. Soon we won't have anything forcing us to obey your terms."
"Is this a threat ?"
"It's an advice. An advice to prove that you can be a good person, before it's too late."
This was incredibly painful for Kieffner, the Headmaster was the first since a very long time willing to give him a chance, to trust him. He didn't really know how to deal with it.
"I think you are mistaken about me Sir."
"But I will try my best to not break the faith you put in me, and who know, maybe you will end up right about me."
Hello everyone !
Sorry for being late from my usual schedule, this chapter proved harder to write than expected.
Also I'm currently unfathomably angry because I was supposed to miss 4 hours of class due to an absent teacher, only to learn at the last minute that someone else replaced him. This exact same thing happened way to many times already, and now I feel a sudden urge to kill puppies.
Now that my rant his over we can do actual author note.
This chapter was a pain and it took way too long to write for me to be comfortable with. I hope I didn't overdid Velvet's reaction. I hope the map drawing part was understandable and not too boring.
Anyway thank you everyone for your support, please leave a review and until next time.