Three days later, Duncan could find no more undead to slay, and had learned the layout of the city much better. He’d found and destroyed eight animators and their bone knight escorts, plus thousands of lesser undead. Other teams of mid-level adventurers roamed the city killing the undead they came across, but he’d heard that several groups had been wiped out when they ran into Animators instead of zombies, undead warriors, and undead mages. The Animators had then raised the adventurers as undead warriors and mages and set them to killing.

Most of the living residents of the city had gathered together in temples, guild halls, and other large buildings. The Duke had opened the citadel to allow thousands to gather there in safety. Guard patrols and adventurers, along with students from the Academy of Steel, the College of Healers, and the Lanport Mage Academy had helped scour the streets clear of undead, running away from Animators and sounding the alarm when they saw them, so that the city’s more puissant defenders could deal with them.

He’d returned to the Academy when he needed to rest, and Amelia had told him that Cassandra had returned to York to be with her family. When he’d asked her if she planned to go home as well, she’d said, “I’m not strong enough to travel alone with the undead incursion and my father can’t spare any troops to escort me. I’m better off here, training and getting stronger.” David was in the same boat as Amelia and incensed that he was too weak to fight back against the incursion. He’d used the two Technique stones Duncan had given him and was practicing diligently with the new Techniques.

Now, Duncan returned, and found a note sitting on his bed, asking him to see the headmaster. So he flew down to the administration building, showed the letter to the staff there, and was soon ushered into Eric’s office. The headmaster nodded at him. “Thanks for coming. And thank you for the initial identification of the undead leaders and their location. We believe we have discovered where most of the high level undead came from. The family mausoleums held the bodies of the leaders of their families, many of whom died at very high levels. The undead seem to have a ritual that raises new undead at the same level as the corpse was in life. So, by raising the illustrious elders of the wealthy families from the mausoleums, they were able to create the bone knights and bone guardians, and possibly some of the animators.”

“Acting on the information you provided, the Duke sent a large party of very high level people into the catacombs. They were able to confirm what you told us about the undead down there. The large four-armed creatures are greater bone golems. I’m told they’re equivalent to level one hundred and thirty adventurers. And the undead mage who almost killed you is a lich. Liches vary in power, from the equivalent to level one hundred to well over level two hundred. They cannot be truly killed unless you can find their phylactery - a vessel that contains their soul - and destroy it. The Lich and its minions drove our forces back with significant losses. Fortunately, our side were able to drag their dead out with them, so the Lich didn’t gain any additional high-level and well-geared minions.”

“But this means we’re in something of a stalemate. We’ve wiped out the Lich’s forces in the city, and people will be able to return to their homes and their lives very soon. But we can’t wipe the Lich out in its lair with the forces we have, and we have no idea where its phylactery might be. We believe it’s no longer willing to send out its remaining forces to get chewed up by the guards we have around the graveyard. Given that many cities have been attacked this way, it seems likely the Lich and its forces will retreat to someplace where the undead are doing better than here and will come after us again at a later date.”

“We are hoping that it will sneak out of the city the same way it arrived. But there remains the possibility that it will try to kill and convert more locals. In the event that it attacks the Academy, the staff will split up – some will fight the invaders, while others will escort the students to safety. Given your combat prowess, we would like you to help escort the other students in the event of an emergency. The likelihood of an attack here is low, given we’re outside the city proper and have our own walls and defenders, but it cannot be discounted.”

Duncan nodded, “I will help as best I can in any emergency. I intend to delve the Sawiskin dungeon more frequently as things go back to normal. I need to advance my Techniques if I’m to stand up to the greater undead and any similar threats. Advancing my sword skills here at the Academy is useful, but I need more power. I thought I had more time.”

Eric responded, “You are a fine young warrior, and you could become one of our best if you don’t get yourself killed. But you have time. The undead are not your responsibility. There are many thousands of experienced adventurers capable of dealing with these undead, and almost as many specialist teams in the forces of the nobles. Now that the initial surprise has faded, you will find that we are capable of dealing with the threat. Train, grow stronger, but do not take the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“Oh, and here’s a reward from the Duke – you’re permitted to fly inside Lanport now.” Eric tossed a medallion to Duncan. “Show that to any guard that questions you about flying.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Duncan. “I will be careful.”

When he returned to his room, he found Amelia, David, and Cassandra there. “The roads are too dangerous to get to York,” said Cassandra. “My escort turned back.”

“I’m glad to see you safe,” replied Duncan. “But could you not have flown?”

“As the heir, I’m not allowed to travel without an escort. As long as I remain at the Academy and in Lanport, I have a degree of freedom, but as soon as I stop being a student, I take up the mantle of heir, with the responsibilities that entails,” she explained.

“I’m sure your family is safe, and I hope York handles its undead incursion well.” Gods, I suck at small talk. “The class schedule is back to normal here starting tomorrow. All the undead are gone except for the Lich and its strongest minions in the catacombs. People are returning to their homes. I’m going to delve more often overnight to advance my Techniques, so you may see me even less than normal.”

“I have a cousin in the Healing Academy. If I can talk him into coming, will you come to the Academy dungeon with us?” asked Amelia. “I need to get stronger, too.” David nodded vigorously.

“Yes, but I need to warn you – I get a lot of very rare spawns in dungeons, monsters that are far too dangerous to normally appear there,” Duncan said. “If we run into one of those, you will need to stay well away from the fight, because I don’t have the skillset to save people. I’m good at surviving and killing. You will be at less risk if you have a full group of people your own level with you.”

Amelia and David indicated their willingness to proceed regardless, and Cassandra said, “I will come, too. I don’t think any of us have the luxury of coasting through school anymore. The world feels more dangerous than it did a week ago.”

“Alright. If you can find a healer, I will accompany you and intervene if you need it. I will talk to the headmaster to see if we can go in the nighttime before rest days.”

* * *

Duncan had a lot of loot from the time he’d spent killing undead. He suspected that several of the undead mages and undead warriors he’d killed had been adventurers the Animators had killed and raised as undead. They had unusually good gear for monsters. He turned in all the corpses of the greater undead he’d killed for the ten gold per corpse reward (No point in turning down free gold) and sold the majority of the loot he’d found. He did keep two pieces of leather armor for David, along with half a dozen health and mana potions. Being able to fly to the Adventurers Guild hall was a really nice perk.

After emptying his storage devices of loot, he flew to the Sawiskin dungeon and engaged the six guards outside the dungeon, making a point of not letting any of them get to the water to alert allies. Seeing only one of him, they were happy to engage him at first, but when he killed their healer in about fifteen seconds, one of them made a break for the water. He stunned it with a strong Mind Spike and cut it down with a few strong swings of his spirit sword. The other three broke and fled for the water, and lacking any control Techniques beyond his stun from Mind Spike, Duncan had to let two of them go. He killed the third, looted their bodies, and entered the dungeon. If they come in after me, I’ll fight. If there’s too many, I’ll flee. If they’re waiting outside, I’ll Blink up and fly away. I’m not in the mood to sneak past them.

Duncan stormed through the dungeon more aggressively than he’d done before. He knew the monsters in here, and there was something more pure about killing dungeon monsters than creatures out in the world, especially those that could well have been people not long before.

He arrived at the cavern where he’d so often found a rare spawn in this dungeon and saw a winged man with the face of a dragon sitting in the lotus position. When Duncan entered the cavern, the creature stood and bowed to him. This… is weird. Duncan bowed back. The creature equipped a set of scaly armor and a magnificent pair of swords, from what Duncan could only assume was a storage device. With a flap of its wings, it launched itself into the air.

Duncan refrained from using his Flying Sword. If his opponent used ranged attacks while airborne, he might have to fly up to meet it, but with those swords, he suspected it would close to fight him hand to hand.

The dragonman folded its wings and dove toward Duncan at speed. When it closed to about ten meters it breathed a gout of flames at him. Duncan Blinked behind it and, as it spun in the air to face him, he struck with a Mind Spike. The dragonman crashed to the ground, stunned, and Duncan Blinked forward and struck with his sword at the creature’s wing. The delicate-looking bones turned out to be very robust, and his blow, even with the blade echoes that accompanied it, failed to break them, though he did manage to tear a slit in one leathery wing.

The creature recovered from the stun and rolled to its feet with admirable grace. It leapt to the attack, both blades whirling around it with tremendous speed and precision. It’s only going to be surprised by this once, so I need to take advantage. Duncan blocked an attack with his shield and the complete loss of momentum and sensory feedback from the sword froze the monster for a moment. Duncan’s thrust behind his shield took it in the belly, tearing a very small hole in the armor. The monster’s second sword struck him a moment later, and five echoes of the attack slammed home behind it, breaking his collarbone and cutting deep into his chest.

Duncan Blinked past the creature, re-orienting to face it, and healed himself. Okay, I need more focus on defense. This thing has an outstanding Blade affinity, too. The monster spun to face Duncan, and he saw the hole in its belly armor had been repaired. His assessment showed the monster as barely wounded.

It stalked forward, blades poised to strike, and Duncan stepped to meet it. For a full thirty seconds they traded blows, Duncan using folds of space for additional blocks, and the monster learning to use them as fulcrums to turn its cuts into thrusts. Duncan began thrusting through folds in space to strike the creature in the back, under the arms, in the crotch, wherever he thought the armor might be weaker.

A cage of blades appeared around Duncan and the monster took a step backwards to summon a potion and drink it. Duncan Blinked behind it and attacked the back of its knee, severing a tendon. The creature spun and breathed fire directly into his face. With a choked cry, he Blinked sideways and healed himself again. The monster spun, looking for him, then leapt to attack, using its wings to take the load off its wounded knee.

Duncan used a strong Mind Spike to stun it as it landed and thrust up under its chin as it came into his reach. His blade tore a deep gash in its throat, and it slammed face first into the ground beside him. He thrust through a fold in space into its neck again as it recovered from being stunned. A red light surrounded the creature and it sped up dramatically as it recovered its footing and attacked ferociously. Five additional swords appeared around it and they all attacked Duncan along with the monster.

The additional swords made it impossible to defend, and Duncan Blinked away frantically to heal as he suffered some serious cuts. He used another strong Mind Spike, which did damage but failed to stun the dragonman, then stabbed through a fold in space to hit the monster in the throat again as it rushed to close the distance between them. His assessment showed the creature was critically wounded, so he Blinked away again, and stabbed it through another fold in space. He could hit things up to sixteen meters away with his sword now that his Fold Space Technique was up to rank five, and he needed the distance, as the dragonman was much faster than him with its Enrage Technique active, and the additional five swords still surrounded it like they were wielded by invisible arms.

One more repetition of Blink and stab from a distance was enough – the monster collapsed in a heap, and the additional swords clattered to the ground. Oh! I thought they were manifestations of Blade-aspected mana. They were real. He was wielding seven swords. Wow. Space magic came to my rescue there – there’s no way I’d have won that fight without it. I mean, I wouldn’t have lived without my Healing affinity, but I wouldn’t have won without the space magic. I couldn’t face that many attacks at once in melee range.

Duncan looted the body, storing the armor (I really like this armor – I hope it’s something I can wear) and all the swords in a storage device. The creature was wearing a heavy necklace under the armor, and Duncan was unable to store it. Oh, this must be a storage device, too. You can’t put a storage device in another storage device unless it’s empty. The spatial fields don’t interact well. He dismissed his armor for a moment and put the necklace on, then re-equipped his armor. The necklace appeared to have quite a lot of stuff in it, so he’d have to spend some time going through it later. In the meantime, there was half a dungeon still to clear. I feel much better after this fight, though.

Duncan cleared the remainder of the dungeon with no additional rare encounters, and no sign of the Sawiskins he’d expected to come calling. He returned to the entrance of the dungeon ready to see what they had waiting for him outside. Stepping through the portal, he Blinked straight up three hundred meters, then Blinked out over the sea and summoned a sword to fly on.

There were a dozen Sawiskin outside the dungeon entrance. They’d seen him step through, but apparently hadn’t seen him Blink up or out across the sea. With a chuckle, Duncan headed back to Lanport and the Adventurers Guild. He had some loot to examine.

There was a line-up at the the appraisal office, which was a bit of a surprise for him. Maybe groups are turning in what they got from the undead. He had to wait almost an hour for his turn, and entertained himself by identifying the other adventurers waiting and trying to guess at their Techniques based on their gear.

Once it was his turn, he sold off all the loot from the regular dungeon monsters, then got to the good stuff. “Dragonskin Cuirass. Body affinity. Self-repairing. The guild can offer you five hundred gold. Dragonskin helmet. Body affinity. Self-repairing. The guild can offer you five hundred gold. Dragonskin Pauldrons. Body affinity. Self-repairing. The guild can offer you three hundred gold. Dragonskin, damnit, son, you’ve got a full set of Dragonskin armor here. Its protection scales with your Body affinity, and it regenerates using your own mana. It’s worth more than I’m allowed to offer you, and you’d be a fool to sell it, honestly, given your obvious body affinity.”

Duncan stored the armor in his armband, then equipped it. It was lightweight, supple, and felt amazing. I wonder if this counts as plate, mail, leather, or something else entirely. He dismissed the armor again and grinned at the appraiser as he put the seven swords he’d taken from the dragonman on the counter.

“Dragontooth sword, Blade affinity. Increases the rank of all Blade Techniques by one. The guild can offer you a thousand gold for it, and, of course, you’re keeping it.” Duncan was so happy he almost danced in place. “Dragonsbane sword, Blade affinity, doubles damage done to dragonkin. The guild can offer you eight hundred gold for it. Necrobane sword, Blade affinity, Life affinity. Doubles damage done to undead, reduces necrotic damage taken by fifty percent. The guild can offer you a thousand gold for it. What did you kill to get all this stuff?” The appraiser shook his head. “Beastbane sword. Blade Affinity. Doubles damage done to all spirit beasts. The guild can offer three hundred gold for it. Horrorbane sword. Blade affinity. Doubles damage done to eldritch terrors. The guild can offer two hundred gold for it. Blade of the Guardian, Spirit Affinity. Continually taunts all hostile creatures within twenty meters. The guild can offer two hundred gold for it. Sword of Peace, Mind and Spirit affinities. Does no damage at all, but the wielder is immune to all mental and spiritual influences. The guild can offer a thousand gold for it.”

The appraiser looked at Duncan in astonishment. “I have never seen such a treasure trove in all my days. All of those swords are of unsurpassed quality.”

Duncan was flabbergasted as well. “Neither have I,” he said. “Just a little more to go.” He pulled out a case from his new storage necklace and put it on the counter. The appraiser opened it to reveal four Technique stones.

“Technique Stone: Extract Resource. No affinity needed, but compatible with earth, metal, stone, gemstone, nature, poison, life, lava, shadow, and blood. Extracts valuable resources from a substance containing them. Efficiency dependent on Technique Rank and associated affinity.” He shook his head. “Essentially, this lets you get materials for crafting and enchanting out of stone, ore, monster corpses, herbs, and so on. The guild values it at over one thousand gold, and I can’t make you an immediate offer for it.”

“Technique Stone: Cage of Blades. Blade Affinity. Creates a cage of blades around a target, immobilizing them. Any attempt to push through the cage damages the target. Duration, cost and damage dependent on rank and affinity. Rare. The guild can offer you twenty gold for it.”

“Technique Stone: Understand Languages. Mind Affinity. Passive. Allows the user to understand and speak languages. Similar languages are understood at lower ranks, dissimilar languages at higher ranks. Very rare. The guild can offer a hundred gold for it.”

“Technique Stone: Regenerate Other. Healing Affinity. Allows the caster to use his own regeneration to regenerate another person’s flesh. Range is Touch only at lower ranks. At very high rank, it has a very short range. Very rare, but also considered useless compared to other healing Techniques. The guild can offer two gold for it based purely on its rarity.”

That monster feels like a gift from the gods. “Hey, Duncan, the war with the invaders has begun. Here’s some stuff to help you out. Now train your ass up so that you can actually fight, because those were all just minions.”

“I’m going to keep all of those. I need to do some thinking about what to sell,” Duncan hedged. He scooped everything into his armband. “Oh, one more thing.” He removed the necklace he’d taken from the dragonman and put it on the counter.

“Advanced storage device, eight hundred slots. The guild values this at over a thousand gold, and I cannot make an offer on it immediately,” the appraiser sighed.

“Thank you for your time,” Duncan said, and took his leave.

Back on campus, Duncan sat on the roof of the student dormitory and contemplated his new Technique options. I already have eleven passive Techniques and eight active ones. Understand Languages feels like it’d be brilliant if I’m to travel the world, but that would take me to twelve passive Techniques, and the guild thinks ten is the limit. Is the limit twenty total? Or is the limit dependent on things like Mind and Spirit Affinities? Or childhood trauma?

I should use regenerate other first. The ability to use my boosted regeneration on someone else could be a lifesaver if I start delving or adventuring in a group. If twenty Techniques is the limit, at least I’ll have that one available.

Duncan used the Regenerate Other technique stone and gained an understanding of how to force other people’s bodies to regenerate like his own. It would cost him additional mana to make it happen, but that would lessen over time.

Alright. Now, the least valuable of the others is Cage of Blades. If I can’t learn it and the stone is destroyed, it’s only a loss of a little gold. Duncan used the Cage of Blades technique stone and successfully learned the Technique.

Ok. That’s twenty-one Techniques learned, and my level is... oh wow, I don’t know if fighting monsters outside dungeons is more rewarding than fighting those inside dungeons, or if a bunch of Techniques were right on the verge of advancing before the undead incursion, but that’s a big leap forward. There’s no indication of a limit on Techniques in my soulgem information. So, of the two remaining, Understand Languages is the lower value one, and it’s a passive, and I already have eleven passives. I only have ten actives, and I know I can have eleven passives. Maybe I should learn Extract Resources first? Actives should match passives, right?

With a grimace, Duncan used the Extract Resources Technique, and was thoroughly relieved when he successfully learned it. Still no indication, so here goes… He used the last Technique Stone and checked his soulgem.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

98 (+17)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

268 (+36)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

248 (+35)

Wisdom:

60

Agility:

250 (+34)

Endurance:

270 (+36)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

3

Health:

25000 (+4120)

Health Regen:

15680/hour (+4340)

Stamina:

3680 (+530)

Stam Regen:

39200/hour (+10850)

Mana:

19477 (+2975)

Mana Regen:

6560/hour (+660)

Mana Reserved:

401

Cultivation:

Mid Earth

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Strong

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Moderate

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive (limit reached)

Rank

Blade Echo

8 (+1)

Tempered Blade

8 (+1)

Fold Space

6 (+1)

Regeneration

7 (+1)

Blink

6

Coagulation

5

Mind Spike

6 (+1)

Hardened Skin

5

Destrin's Restoration

5 (+1)

Tranquil Mind

4

Flying Sword

4

Spiritual Shield

3

Bladestorm

3 (+1)

Personal Space Pocket

5 (+1)

Remove Affliction

4 (+1)

Ignore Pain

5 (+1)

Regenerate Other

1 (+1)

Shadow Sight

4 (+1)

Cage of Blades

1 (+1)

Assessment

4 (+1)

Extract Resouces

1 (+1)

Blade Sense

2 (+1)

Understand Languages

1 (+1)

Skills

Rank

1H swords

7

Plate armor

4

2H swords

5

Mail armor

1

1H axes

3

Leather armor

3

2H axes

3

Anatomy

2

Shields

4 (+1)

Survival

2

Spears

4

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

3

Bows

3

Swimming

1

Tracking

1

Riding

1

Limit reached on Passive Techniques! So, twelve is my limit. That’s wonderful. And level ninety-eight. My physical stats are very impressive. My regeneration is… 4 health per second, without using an active Technique. Destrin’s Restoration is three health restored per mana spent now. That’s still my most expensive Technique, but it gets cheaper every time I rank Destrin’s Restoration or Regeneration.

Relieved that he hadn’t wasted any Technique Stones, he retired to get some sleep. Classes resumed tomorrow, after all.