Chapter 12: What It Means To Live

Determination.

That was what my body was currently filled with. The time for sadness was long gone. Even most of my anger had faded away. All that was left was a strong resolve. I would become stronger and I would protect the people I cared for. No matter the cost.

Before I reanimated any more dead bodies, I questioned the one I had just reanimated. I had quite a few questions and not enough answers. My questions ranged from how he felt when I brought him back to life, to how he was currently feeling. For some reason my giant rat hadn’t spoke to me at all during the time it was alive. I didn’t know why but I had a couple of guesses. One was that my necromancy level was too low which only allowed me to feel his emotions. The other reason was that the giant zombie rat didn’t know how to speak. I didn’t really know, but what could I do?

After talking to the reanimated bat for a few minutes, I thought about what I learned. My reanimation told me that when he died he woke up in complete darkness. He told me that the feeling was similar to when you just woke up. You’re not quite asleep but you’re not quite awake either. To him my mana was soothing and cool which was why he immediately latched onto it. This allowed for him to come back from the dead.

Interesting. Did this mean that there wasn’t anything after death? Just darkness? He had only been dead for a few minutes so I couldn’t really make any accurate guesses. Hmm, this would be something I had to think about later.

When I questioned him about how he felt, he told me he felt stronger than he was before. He also didn’t need to breathe. The only reason he was breathing now was so he could talk. Huh, did this mean his heart wasn’t beating? Then what the hell was keeping him alive, his brain? A look of confusion began to spread on my face as I thought.

Okay, he doesn’t need his heart. He doesn’t need his lungs to live anymore. He does however need his brain to think so he had to make sure he didn’t lose that. But other than his brain I don’t think that my reanimated bat needed any other organs. This meant that all he had to do was protect his brain. If they didn’t destroy his brain, then they couldn’t kill him. Amazing. Necromancy was just so intriguing.

After learning that particular fact, I began to look at my reanimated bat in a new light. Didn’t that make him immortal? He didn’t need to eat so he wouldn’t starve to death, and he didn’t need his heart. The only way he would die was if his brain was destroyed. Hmm. Could I do that to myself? Just the thought of being immortal made me feel and exhilarating rush. The things I would be able to accomplish! But before I attempted the ritual on myself, I needed to work out all the kinks of it. I didn’t want to kill myself on accident just because I wasn’t careful.

When I questioned my reanimated bat about any weaknesses he thought he had, I was forced to wait for a response. Five minutes later and I finally got a response. It turned out that although he still had his emotions, some of them were tuned down while others were tuned up. One thing he noticed was whenever he thought about giant rats; an insatiable rage filled his body. I rubbed my chin as I thought about this predicament.

My reanimated bat getting angry whenever he thought about giant rats was understandable. After all, he was killed by them. But the way he was describing his anger was odd. It was as if it was easier to get angry, easier to hate something, easier to kill. Was that because of the ritual? I honestly had no clue.

His anger wasn’t the only emotion that was affected. He also possessed a certain sense of apathy. He wasn’t afraid of death, not anymore. He had already died once, how much worse could a second time be?

Now this might be a problem. Due to his state of mind, he would end up taking more risks. He might be a zombie, but I was pretty sure I could only bring him back once. When he died, he would turn into bone dust, never to return. Or he might just randomly die. My ritual wasn’t perfect so I wasn’t sure how long he could last. I would have to read my necromancy journal to know more.

After getting most of my questions answered, I decided to sum it all up in a few sentences. First was that my reanimated corpses only needed their brain to survive. The next was that they usually felt apathetic. But when they felt some sort of emotion, they would feel it in full swing. There was no such thing as being irritated. Instead you would be incensed with anger. Another thing was that my reanimated corpses would feel some sort of connection to me. I could feel some of their emotions while they could feel some of mine. The only reason I could think of for this was because my reanimations held my mana inside of them. If it wasn’t because of that then I honestly had no idea.

Nodding my head towards my reanimation, I ended our conversation. I took the next minutes to survey the battlefield. Mayhem and carnage. Dead bodies of both rats and bats were piled next to each other. There were also pieces of loot scattered about. As I surveyed the battlefield, I noticed a bat picking up some loot. Do bats get loot also?

It turned out they did. If the weapon that the bat received was anything to go one. The weapon that the nearby bat was holding seemed to be some sort of bat claw. It essentially a gauntlet with gloves that they could put over their claws. It didn’t seem as though humans could use it. As I looked at the bat claw loot, questions began to spring up from inside my mind. Does the loot we get tailor itself to us? I had gotten an iron sword as one of my loot and I doubted that the bats could use something like that. So would they get an equivalent that they could use instead of a sword like me? Hwaah. I had way too many questions.

Shaking my head from side to side, I cleared those thoughts from my head. I would think about it later. I had more important things to do right now. As I looked at the corpses of the body, I was struck with a realization. I could finally do the ritual that I had wanted to do. The one where my reanimation could gain other corpses characteristics. If I could create it, then I wouldn’t have to worry about it dying. For each monster it ate, the stronger it would become. The potential it possessed was limitless.

Walking toward the undead general, I cleared my throat before I began to speak.

“Hey, I was wondering if I could go to my home base and gather a few ingredients for a ritual I wanted to perform. It would only take me around fifteen minutes if I rushed.”

Hopefully he would let me do it. If he didn’t, there really wasn’t anything that I could do except wait. The only reason I was even asking was because he was a higher level than me. I didn’t want to be killed for a mistake on my part. It was better to play it safe until I was stronger.

It took the undead general a few seconds before he began to speak.

“Hmm, I guess that would be acceptable. You’ve earned it after all. But not without two guards to make sure you make it back safely. You’re too valuable to lose.”

After he spoke he motioned towards my reanimation and another bat I didn’t know. He then proceeded to tell them they needed to protect me and listen to all of my instructions. Within reason of course. This was good because not only would I have protection, but I could get the bats to carry some of my stuff that I needed. I might as well put them to use rather than let them do nothing.

After getting permission, I headed towards my base with the two bats in tow. Right now they were currently walking behind me since it was too cramped to fly. Since it was essentially a straight path to my base and it would take a couple more minutes, I decided to look at my status.

Status WindowNameColm MarythouAge: 16Race: HumanLevel: 6Gender: MaleTitlesThe Peerless Descender, Undead ProphetHealth: 90/150Mana: 60/160Stamina: 80/150~Strength: 10[5]Agility: 13[3]Vitality: 8Dexterity: 9Intelligence:20Wisdom:15Luck:0~SkillsMana Affinity, Wind Blade, Earth Magic, Necromancy, Meditation, Enhanced Vision, Electric ShockUnallocated Points: 10

The battle that I had just fought had taken a lot out of me. The only reason my health was as high as it was is because I was forced to drink my health potion. Without it I would have surely been dead. I also ended up using all of my Tupa fruits except for the drowsy one. The paralytic and poisonous tupas had been very useful in the battle. I could really find a use for the drowsy tupa so I had decided to save it for later. Who knew when I might need it?

My iron sword had also broken in battle. I wasn’t that mad about it since I had managed to create a new spell when it broke. The new spell was a combination of a wind blade and my electrical shock. This formed a deadly fusion of wind and electricity. None of the rats could stand up to this deadly attack. The only downside was that it used a considerable amount of mana. This spell was the reason why my mana was so low.

Thanks to the fight I had managed to gain two levels. I was now level six. I now had more health, mana, and stamina. My stats were still unallocated because I just hadn’t had the chance to allocate them. I was simply too busy. I would probably allocate them in a few hours when I wasn’t so busy. Before I could think about my level any more, I arrived at my meager home.

Opening a hole in my cracking wall, I stepped inside. Motioning towards the bat I didn’t know, I made him pick up the three giant rat corpses. I made my reanimation carry the ferocious giant rat corpse with specific instructions to be careful. It had taken a lot of work to get that corpse and I did not want to see it damaged. Once the corpses were gathered, I made sure I had the two containers of bone dust. I planned on making this next reanimation my best one yet.

Once everything was gathered, I made my way back to the battlefield. I could hardly believe that last few hours. I could’ve been killed multiple times on that battlefield. But I survived and I was stronger because of it. I had utilized my skills to their fullest potential and managed to decimate anything that got in my way. Thanks to my constant use of these skills, quite a few had gained levels or experience. This is what they looked like now.

Wind BladeSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: CommonSkill Level: 5Exp: 10%Effect: Allows the user to create a sharp blade of wind that can be used in combat.

Earth MagicSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: UncommonSkill Level: 7Exp: 50%Effect: Allows the user to mold the earth into a variety of constructs.

Electric ShockSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: UncommonSkill Level: 4Exp: 5%Effect: Allows the user to give something or someone an electric shock. This attack has a small chance of paralyzing the place it hit.

NecromancySkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: RareSkill Level: 3Exp: 55%Effect: Allows the user to reanimate dead corpses. The stronger the skill, the longer the reanimated corpse can stay alive and the stronger it will be. Certain rituals will change the corpses characteristics.

MeditationSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: UncommonSkill Level: 3Exp: 30%Effects: By sitting down and gathering mana, mana regeneration is increased. The higher the level, the more mana that is regenerated. Small amounts of stamina will now be restored.

Enhanced VisionSkill Type: PassiveSkill Rank: UncommonSkill Level: 4Exp: 30%Effects: This skill allows you to see farther and better. If level up high enough, night vision becomes possible.

Mana Affinity SkillSkill Type: PassiveSkill Rank: UniqueSkill Level: 5Exp: 40%Effects: Any skill using mana cost 5% less. You are more sensitive to the mana. This enables you to know when someone is about to cast a spell due to the amount of mana being gathered. Anything mana related comes easier to you.

My wind blade and electric shock had leveled up thanks to my new spell, electric wind blade. This attack also helped me gain a lot of experience in my mana affinity skill. My earth magic had leveled up also since I had used quite a few spikes. My earthen swamp had also saved me from life threatening attacks. My necromancy skill was level three thanks to the ritual I had just performed. I also had a sneaking suspicion that my level wasn’t based on how many necromancy rituals I had done, but on how much necromancy knowledge I possessed.

My meditation skill hadn’t leveled up since I hadn’t meditated yet. I would have to do it before I performed the ritual so I would gain experience then. My enhanced vision was level four and I could now see better in the dark. This and my mana affinity were the only two skills that I didn’t have to train. They would level up with me just doing stuff that I would normally do. My mana affinity was also level five now.

After I reviewed all of my skills, I walked for another minute before returning to the battlefield. Nodding towards the undead general, I motioned to the bats behind me where to put the bodies. Once they were in the correct spot I dismissed them. I wouldn’t need their assistance anymore.

Looking towards the battlefield, I began to grab giant rat corpses. I only grabbed the ones that were intact or looked strong. I wanted only the best after all. I was leaving quite a few since I couldn’t use too many in my ritual. Plenty of corpses would make my reanimation stronger, but the risk of my ritual failing also increased. As I began to drag the bat corpses next, I was approached by the general.

“How many corpses do you plan on using in this ritual? You might not know but we rely on the giant rats for food so if you use too many of them we might have to intervene. Also what do you plan on doing with those bat corpses in your hands?”

Huh, so the bats ate the giant rats. Their fighting now made a little more sense. The giant rats probably didn’t like being eating so they fought back which eventually led to both sides hating each other. From the way the general was looking, it seemed he was quite hesitant with me messing with the bat corpses. He didn’t care about the rat corpses but the corpses I was dragging used to be his soldiers. Hmm, this might be a problem.

“Not that many. I’m actually done collecting the giant rat corpses so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. As for these bat corpses……I plan on using them for my ritual.”

I needed these bat corpses because I wanted to try combining them and the rats to see what I would get. I was also hoping that my new reanimation would have wings. If it did, it would open countless new battle strategies. Therefore these bat corpses were a necessity.

“Can’t you just resurrect them and use the giant rat corpses instead? I could spare a couple of the corpses but I would prefer if you could bring them back to life instead.”

Wait….did he really expect me to bring back all of the dead bats back to life? There were quite a few of them that were lying around on the battlefield. How good of a necromancer did he think I was? I didn’t even think I could raise that many.

“The problem with your idea is quite simple. I can’t reanimate that many. Although I can reanimate bodies, I am still relatively new at it. Therefore until I get stronger I can only reanimate a couple of corpses. So you might as well let me use these corpses to make a bigger and better bat rather than let their corpses go to waste.”

I didn’t really want to admit my weakness, but I had to let the general know. There was no way he was going to let me use his soldiers’ corpses unless I came up with a good excuse. Reanimating that many corpses was impossible for me since every one of my reanimations had to have my mana in it. Without it the ritual just wouldn’t work. The bat I had reanimated was already causing a strain on my mana, even if it was small. According to the notes in my journal, the more reanimations I made, the harder it would be for me.

It was basically this. For every reanimation I made, I lost a part of the mana inside of me. It wasn’t really mana, more like mental energy. I could still feel it, but it would be inside the reanimation. I would only be able to get it back once my reanimation perished. Therefore if I made another reanimation along with the one I already had, I would lose some more of my mental energy. And I could only lose so much mental energy until I started to feel some harmful effects. At my current level I could only reanimate two corpses.

Or at least that was what I thought. I couldn’t really measure my mental energy so I was just guessing. My necromancy skill helped reduce the strain, but not by much. Since my necromancy level was so low, the boost it gave me was quite small. I would have to level it up more to see a noticeable difference. Hopefully the general would say yes. If he didn’t, he would have a problem. I needed the corpses and I wasn’t about to just let them be buried. They were too valuable for that.

AN: Thanks for reading!