Pain. Pain and darkness.

That did not fit right.

His fuzzy memories did not provide much of an explanation. Joe felt like after one of those fancy, new year’s parties his old company organized, when he woke up in bed with Annie from accounting having not the slightest idea how that happened.

So, what on earth happened? And why couldn’t he move?

*DING*

You are currently stuck underneath a dead beast of unknown origin.

*DING*

The corpse is still quite fresh and may be usable. Would you like to harvest? Yes No

Joe pushed “Yes” with his tongue. The only part that appeared to be working.

*DING*

Your body bag skill level is insufficient to store this specimen however you can dismantle it and store the parts separately. Would you like to dismantle this corpse? Yes No

Again, Joe pushed yes.

*DING*

Through special action, new skill was created! ChopShop! Your readiness to slice and dice newly acquired corpse is admirable for such a young necromancer as you. As a result, you can now extract spare parts from newly acquired corpses. Skill effects: Spare parts extraction lvl 1 – Will extract and process body parts for easier storage and later use. Chance of success 56%, chance of obtaining rare ingredients 4% Items extraction - All items found on or within the dismantled body will be transferred into your item box. Dissection – Improves your grasp on anatomy and provides general knowledge of dismantled body. Improves the probability of correctly dismantling similar bodies in the future. Skill Cost: MP -100 / per body and additional -2 MP/s while dismantling. Consumes 1 Body.

*DING*

New option available! Would you like to Dissect the [Unknown] body? Yes No

Yes! Anything as long somebody would take that thing off him.

*DING*

Please wait, Processing…

Bright light engulfed him and a large portion of his surroundings, lasting for about a minute.

*DING*

Dismantling of Night Howler complete.

*DING*

Night Howler. A beast of desert origin, recognized by distinctive cry it gives after successfully hunting down its prey. On average, adult Night Howlers grow ten feet tall and eleven feet long. They travel in packs of up to nine females and one male, however, larger packs were observed with more prominent alphas males. The head of a female NH resembles that of a hyena with the distinctive addition of long, upward facing fangs which length can reach up to sixteen inches. Their torso is slender and covered in sand hued scales, with bright, white underbelly. They move on four legs, all equipped with nine, non-retractable claws. Large muscle mass suggests great strength and swiftness.

*DING*

Body parts harvested NH Skin(1), NH Talons(16), [Rare] NH Eyes(2), NH Liver (1), NH Body Fat (50 lbs), NH Muscle Tissue(96 lbs), NH Heart(2), NH Blood(896 fl. oz.), NH Fang (1), NH Skull(1), NH Bones(72), NH [Unknown](3).

:

*DING*

Items Acquired: Knight Longsword(1), Arrows(43), Goblin Remains(129), [Unusable] Spear(1), Human remains(14), Mid-Tier Mana Stone(1).

Joe dismissed all the screens with a heavy sigh, promising himself to read the long later. Ever since he decided on starting a journal, a note, like items gained or key-knowledge learned, appeared there on its own accord.

“I’ll be darn, you’re still alive. Not something I would expect after that thing crushed you.”

Savil’s voice broke the silence. Joe had to twist his head far to the right to see her body or rather what left of it.

“The fuck are you? Some kind of zombie?”

Lots of parts were missing. Like very important parts. Like most of her lower body. And her arm. And all that dried blood around her...

“No. I’m not undead. I’m just pretty bad at dying.”

“You’re an immortal?”

She chuckled at that.

“No. For that, you need at least one thousand points of constitution.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Who knows? Maybe.”

A wet cough interrupted her, something that looked like a broken fang, protruded from her chest.

“At three hundred points, you can play a meat shield in a party. At five hundred your aging slows down and you won’t die from blood loss. It is said that over eight hundred your limbs would regrow and broken bones heal instantly.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind that right now…”

Joe made a quick inventory of himself. His left leg somehow managed to bend in a place without a joint and his hands, well, he won’t play the violin for a while.

He hoisted himself up and using his elbows dragged his body towards his demi. Or what left of her.

“What happened and where are we?”

“After you tried to poison me, you shitty master? Not much. I’ve slept over most of your vendetta. A knight from the watch awoke me. Orders from the capital arrived through twin crystals. They decided to seal the passage and were abandoning the city. She volunteered to pass the order for retreat to those fighting at the gate, hoping to get as many soldiers out as possible. Trouble is, the gate garrison no longer existed. She found us. Me, to be precise. You were too busy getting killed on the other side of the bridge. ”

“She told me of their glorious plan and asked where are others… Imagine the disappointment.”

“Anyway, about at that point the “Save thy Master” thingy kicked in. I went to grab your sorry ass and run the hell out of there. We were to escape through the underground tunnels when those toothy things arrived and everything went down the gutter. Seems like the goblins weren’t attacking. They were running away from something.”

Joe stopped above her. From up close she looked even worse than he imagined.

“Do I get a goodbye kiss for being a good slave?”

She stuck out her bloodied tongue.

“As if I Would…”

He put his arm over her.

“Heal.”

*DING*

Notice, skill usage failed. Conditions not met, missing body parts.

“Dammit!”

“Ho-hum, so even your scary abilities have limits.”

She closed her eyes, there were tears mixed with blood seeping down her cheeks. As if he would give up so easily.

“Harvest.”

She disappeared within his item box.

*DING*

Through special action, your skill Novice Soul Mastery Leveled UP! Current skill level 3 You have taken possession of a soul. A feat worthy of a world class necromancer. You may do as you please with it. Skill effect: Soul craft: Ability to control and shape the souls in your possession. Soul storage: You can store and maintain 8 additional souls within your soul. Soul transfer: Ability to transfer souls at will. Soul recovery: Stored souls will regenerate over time. Up to level II soul deterioration can be recovered. Soul Link: Ability to link your soul with the souls in your possession. Depending on the link type and power, additional effects may appear. Current storage: 2 of 8 slots occupied.

Now, since that was taken care of, Joe opened his skill list and scrolled down towards the ones grouped as “Crafting”. He needed potions. Highest grade recovery ones he could make since his True heal would not work on him. This became a priority, get the hell out of here, find a real healer and fix the girls.

Surely in some temple, they would be able to help, wouldn’t they? This crazy, game like world surely had a way to treat wounds like theirs.

“What the…”

Between the crafting skills, newly added icon shined, signifying a new skill.

A needle, a string, and an outline of a sewed body? ChopShop? Black background color linked the skill with the necromancer branch.

Joe looked around, as far as the magical glow coming off the tunnel walls allowed him to see, the corridor partly collapsed before him, leaving only a thin passage. He should be able to crawl through that but anything bigger than him would have a rough time getting by.

Well, he won’t get a better chance.

He pushed the icon, making a new window pop up. A list of all the “parts” currently in his possession, sorted from biggest to smallest. First three slots were occupied by chibi icons of the girls he had in his body bag. He hovered over each icon, reading the description.

[Mute, blind, elven cow. Current soul linked: none.] [Demi arrow cushion. Current soul linked: Neira.] [Mostly eaten demi princess. Current soul linked: Savila]

Apart from the description, each icon offered an edit button. He picked the knight and pressed it. What he saw made him laugh like a maniac.

Out of all the possibilities… he just couldn’t stop laughing.