[Immortality Research - 5%]
“Oh? Good.” Jay grinned, looking up from his book as he noticed the tunnel went quiet - the fighting had finally stopped.
During the fighting, the skeletons only had to be resummoned twice, and after meditating a few times Jay’s mana pool was almost completely full again.
Over time the skeletons took damage and died, dropping their hammers, but Jay sent Dark in to grab them before the statues could advance any further.
It would have been a nightmare if he missed this small detail, but thankfully he fixed the issue before any problems came up.
One by one, the statues moved into the killing tunnel only to slowly get grinded into dust - the only reason Jay and his party would move back would be due to all the debris from the statues' bodies.
[2550 Exp]
A few hours later, Jay and Anya both grinned with excitement as they shared the exp.
At first they got ready for a long battle and began to rest, but the constant trickle of exp made them smile slightly each time.
“You haven’t levelled up yet?” Anya asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
“Mm. I need more as a necromancer.” Jay said, dismissing her as he packed up his chair and book. Due to his disguise stone, his status still said he was a level nine necromancer after all.
“Shall we get going?” he said, pointing to the end of the tunnel.
“Sure.” she nodded back, packing away her leather-wrapped sharpening kit.
As they walked out, Jay had his skeletons collect all the soul stones and rings.
[Soul Stone] (Empty) x 52
[Helvetian Ring] x 34
Jay gave Anya her cut of the rings and they continued through the passage, entering the courtyard.
Jay had a quick check of his class as they walked.
<[Necromancer Level 11]> (Pure)
[Race - Human]
HP: 93/93
MP: 68/68
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 25
Vitality: 35
Energy: 40/40
Exp: 5330/15000
[<[Skills]>]
<~[Necromancy Skills]~>
[Raise Feeble Creature level 4]
[Summon Bone Helminth]
[Shell Restoration Level 1]
[Unstable Teeth Level 2]
[Shift]~[Living Blueprints]~[Transplant]~[Amputation]
[Uncaring Rip]~[Pitiful Mortal]
[Necrotic Sense - Level 1] (Passive)
[Scrimshaw Level 3] (Passive)
[Undead Mastery Level 3] (Passive)
<[Other Skills]>
[Asklin] (Equipment)
[Dagger Proficiency level 1] (Passive)
[Poison Resist 11%] (Passive - equipment)
[Running level 2] (Passive)
[Stress Response] (Passive)
[Sword Proficiency Level 1] (Passive)
[Class Utility] (Passive)
[<[Research]>]
[Chimera Research 17%]
[Immortality Research 5%]
[Skull-shield Projector Research 32%]
[Dreadmourn Turret Research 22%]
“Fuck yeah, one-third of the way to level 12… heh” He thought, having to stop himself from grinning suspiciously.
“Oh… I got some new research too? Huh… I should check my class more often… I thought I was much closer than thirty-two percent towards learning that energy field.” his ecstatic mood calmed as he pursed his lips.
“I guess I have a lot to learn.” he humbly nodded to himself as he walked quietly, following his gang of skeletons through the passage.
Stepping into the light, he noticed everything was made from the iconic black slate stone: the walls, the pillars, along with the ground.
“Hm. A simple courtyard.” Jay said as they walked.
Looking around, it was easy to tell there was nothing here since everything was flat, angular and smooth.
“Well, it looks like we successfully completed pyramid number four.” Jay smiled.
“That was way better than the third one…” Anya nodded, smiling back, “though it would’ve been impossible without the skeletons - sacrificing themselves and then fighting endlessly - I don’t see anyone doing that without at least a party of four.”
“Yeah, they’re almost too useful,” Jay joked as he looked at his skeletons approvingly.
“Next pyramid?” Anya pointed.
“Next pyramid.” Jay nodded as they began walking out of the courtyard and down a ramp between the pillars.
The path to the fifth pyramid this time was a cream-white colour. Compared to the black stone they had been walking on all this time, it seemed quite regal. It was a welcome change.
Looking ahead, there was a large black wall around the fourth pyramid with a large white-stone gate.
“Hmm… I’ve never heard of the gate before…?” Anya said, looking a little confused.
For a moment she wondered why no one had told her about the gate when asking around at the guild, but she simply figured that perhaps no one expected her to make it this far yet.
Perhaps the veterans wanted her to focus on what was in front of her rather than what’s ahead.
Jay and Anya carefully approached the white gate as they moved along the road - but to their surprise there were no traps, ambushes or even patrolling statues.
The silence was quite unnerving, and now Jay thought he actually preferred something to fight. It would be better than the haunting, quiet tension.
Finally, they made it to the gate, and Jay rested his hand on it as he examined it.
“Huh, It’s bigger than I thought it would be.” Jay said as he looked upwards;
It was so tall that it seemed like it leaned over them.
The gate itself was completely smooth, like two large slate slabs with a crack in the middle. It had a lip at the top but there was no way anyone was scaling its flat surface.
Now that he was close enough, he could even see his reflection. Jay thought it must have taken years to polish it to make it this shiny; it was simply pristine.
Unfortunately, the gate didn’t open and there was definitely no way he and his minions would have the strength to push it open - but after a moment of analysing, Jay received a strange notification.
[!]
Opening it, it took him to his inventory - there was an item with the same [!] notification next to it.
“Hmm…” Jay looked at it suspiciously.
He had felt a strange connection to this particular item since he entered the dungeon, but he soon forgot all about it - though now, it seemed to beckon to him more than ever, it was like it wanted him to pull it out of his inventory.
Sullivan stared at Lannister inquisitively across his desk, wondering if he could be trusted to protect his daughter.
“Your head mage seems to have an attitude.” Lara said, breaking the tension while looking absentmindedly across Sullivans book collection.
Sullivan smiled slightly, “Viladore? He’s an odd man, but he does his job. Did he do something?”
“No… It’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t even look at us as we passed him. It was like he was possessed.” Lara shrugged.
Sullivan gazed at her for a moment before squinting at the door where Viladore just left.
“Well, let’s talk about why you’re here.” Sullivan gestured to the other seat in his room; Lara took the message and sat down.
Next they were bombarded with questions, covering numerous topics:
- How will I contact you?
- When? Procedures?
- Sending letters and other items
- How will you ensure their safety?
- How will you meet their levelling needs?
- How do you deal with… ‘annoyances’...?
- How do they leave? Will you teach them that?
- Their responsibilities?
Lara and Lannister answered patiently.
They were not typical questions, but then again, there was nothing typical about this situation.
Generally, people would join them as a last refuge - but this was more like an interview. But what other options did Sullivan have?
Lara wanted to tell him to ‘take it or leave it.’, but she knew that there would be severe penalties if they lost their only opportunity to bring a necromancer into their ranks. It was crucial that everything went smoothly.
After all the questions and the finer details were resolved, Sullivan finally released a satisfied smile.
“Make sure you take care of them.” he slowly spoke with his smooth but powerful voice, his blue eyes seeming to glow ever so faintly for just a moment.
The power behind it seemed like it was almost like a threat, but Lannister just nervously smiled back.
“Of course…” he nodded, “but there is one last thing. We would like to place some listening devices around the guild, for security purposes.” Lannister said, taking a light-purple crystal out and showing it to Sullivan.
“Don’t worry, they won’t be visible.” he said while adding some mana to the crystal.
The crystal turned a deeper purple, and eventually turned black. Once it was completely black it instantly vanished from sight, though it was easy to tell there was still a physical object in his hand.
A small smile began to form on Sullivans face as he watched. He had seen these only once before in his military life - though at that time it was presented to him as an assassins tool.
“Don’t let anyone see you place them.” Sullivan nodded.
Lara gave a smile and was the first to stand up; she was just glad the meeting was over.
She didn’t contribute much, but her body guard role was just as important.
“Just a moment.” Sullivan raised his arm.
“Hm?” Lara gave him a curious look as Sullivan pulled out a communication crystal.
“Margie, I have two friends here. Could you give them a tour of the guild? Also, show them Jay's room and Anya's room, and let them wait in the guest quarters once you’ve finished.”
Margaret knew exactly who they were, and was glad she could be of some help.
“Absolutely Sully.” she smiled.
Sullivan tried to not look awkward as he put the crystal away. He really wished she wouldn’t call him ‘Sully’ in front of outsiders.
“Oh, the guest quarters won’t be necessary, but we appreciate the hospitality.” Lannister smiled.
Lara gave him a look of disapproval, but it would be better that they kept their time here to a minimum so Lannister ignored it.
A gentle knock on the door and Margaret escorted them out of Sullivan's office.
After the door closed, Sullivan got up and looked around his bookshelf, finding an invisible object there.
He smiled, almost chuckling while shaking his head before putting it back again.
***Where is the eternal book chapter? Well, I had an idea for one but I lost it. I’ll upload it when I grasp it again. I’m not just going to write some vague mysterious garbage with no meaning. Also, sorry chapters have been slow this week, I’ve had some life to catch up on.***
