After Shae’s run in with the car sized spider, Shae decided there was no point in risking her life attempting to fine tune her abilities in her first dungeon. She had years to hone her skills. But not if she took chances and died. She was also getting pretty good at holding the summoned flame without much thought or effort anymore. It was barely a thought to alter its size and brightness anymore. She was also able to turn the flame into a sphere and have it hover over her head. She had been playing around with it a bit during her break. Her fire control was coming along. She could now shape her own fire and move it about her body, albeit slowly. Currently she had it floating above her head. It was the best place she could put it for her trek through darkness. In front of her it dimmed her view. Behind it caused shadows. Beside her in a tunnel that fit only one easily was asking for first degree burns.

Maybe it just wasn’t her fire practice that was progressing but her all around magic control. She found she could feel its flow, and how it was interacting with her body.

Her soft cover was now extendable farther out after her rest. Only by a little ways, but it was an improvement, a step forward. The concentration required to upkeep her magic running was becoming less of a burden as well. It seemed the better she could feel her aura loop, the better she was able to tap into it. Control it.

While she didn’t choose a world that had experience tables and skill charts to choose from like a book. Her usage of her skills under normal use and high stress over time was like earning experience in those situations. More realistic though. It only made sense that when you constantly practiced something and worked hard at it, your mind would help you do the more mundane tasks, subconsciously taking over old tasks while you practiced new layers.

Much like a martial artist who practiced the same kick over and over. Eventually he was able to do the kick without much thought and in perfect form. When added into actual combat situations, the mind showed you things needing improvement and what worked well. Over even more time, you keep refining until it becomes second nature in a host of situations.

This was how mages gained more power. Through controlling the flow of aura. Learning how to fine turn its usage for maximum output. Or at least someone who spent the time working at it would. You can’t just wave your hand and expect yourself to make gains with no effort put into it. You started by crawling and moving into walking then running.

After her time being forced to use her magic in combat and in constant normal use, Shae was finding a lot of aspects much easier. And the more she could do, the more she tried to do. Like have her flame float above her head.

She had plans to try another out another way of using her force magic. She hoped it wouldn’t be an absolute failure, otherwise she could be left open for attack, as she felt she would not be able to use her kinetic armor and this ability at the same time. At least not yet. First, she would have to get better at shaping her planned ability. Which is why the flame above her head was in a ball. It was the first baby step.

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After a few weeks of in fighting, Unq’Rul was making great strides toward his goals of taking over. He would lose a few soldiers every day to Ruk’Kesh. But other than the orc king, no others posed a threat. For every zombie or skeleton Ruk’Kesh killed, Unq’Rul had made a dozen more by slaying his kin.

Then the day came when Unq’Rul was finally able to create and bind his first spirit undead to himself. He had been able to create a spirit before, but without binding the phantoms mind to his will, the orc phantom would dissipate in almost no time at all. Leaving this mortal plane for its natural migration to the next existence.

Once Unq’Rul had figured out how to force the phantom’s will to his own, he was able to keep the spirit on this plane under his control. The perfect warrior to fight the orc king.

It had worked wonderfully. The phantom had drained the orc king with each attack, numbing his body and slowing his actions while Ruk’Kesh was forced to fight his undead kin.

This had been the biggest attack Unq’Rul had launched to date. Up until now he had been slowly upping his attacks bit by bit as his army grew. Now he was pushing to conquer the orc king, and once he had accomplished that, there would be nothing stopping him from finishing off the rest of the tribe. Converting them all into the perfect form, undead.

In the books Unq’Rul had, he learned, well to the best he could figure, he had become a variation of a lich. One of the greatest undead known to mankind.

Normally only humans or higher magic races like elves could become liches, due to their greater magic abilities. Unq’Rul had become the first of his kind to ever ascend. At least to the knowledge contained in his library. It made sense really. He was after all a great mage.

He had wondered why he had such a burning hatred for his kin at first. Wanting to kill and dominate them all. Sure, he had plans to do away with Ruk’Kesh and take over, but not with such wanton desire. At first, he thought it was due to undead hating life. But the books ruled that out, as liches did not have that flaw. They had the ability of free rational thought.

Unq’Rul spent a bit of time soul searching, then it came to him. He was being coerced by the human’s memories. That man’s hatred for his kind. It had been placed into Unq’Rul’s subconsciousness. Almost like the man had done so to spite Unq’Rul. Which of course was silly. He just seemed to acquire some of his traits. Like his hatred for orc. But also, his trait for a higher use of magic. Unq’Rul had thought he was a great mage before. But now combined he was head’s above where he had been. He could live with a flaw or two.

Ruk’Kesh was unable to fight off the phantom. Its unrelenting attacks combined with the other undead harassing the great orc was too much. Once Ruk’Kesh fell to his knees, his mighty strength failing his for the first time ever. The undead pulled him to the ground and held him in place while Unq’Rul leaned over his weakened form. Sneering in disdain.

“Fear not great king, you shall be remade into an even greater being. I have great plans for you.”

Then Unq’Rul began the process of twisting his previous king’s body into a new undead creation. He would turn the former king into a life draining menace. He would become a high ghoul. A creature able to think and reason, with the ability to drain the life from the living with a touch. Yet he would be bound to Unq’Rul’s will. Forced to due his bidding like a dog. With the intellect to realize it. Such a fitting end, and new beginning. The mighty king brought to heel, forced to feed on life force of his kin. Unq’Rul knew it would drive the orc mad. Unq’Rul reveled in his king’s soon suffering. Even if he knew it was in part due to the human’s influence. Yet, Unq’Rul was ever the twisted soul to begin with. A little more hatred for his own kind wouldn’t change him much, and in fact welcomed.