Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 28

Angela was in a bad mood the next day. Mortimer thought he understood, because although he had never been killed by party members, he knew dying to a player wasn’t fun. Of course, one reason Mortimer had never been killed by party members is that he had never been in a party with someone who was a player killer. In fact, he just hadn’t been in a party.

Mortimer avoided Angela for the rest of the day. She seemed to be doing perfectly fine brooding on her own. In class, Mortimer just actually paid attention to the teacher, and at lunchtime he made himself scarce.

Finally, when they were at home, Angela suddenly cried out, “I’ve got it!”

Mortimer figured he was supposed to ask, so he did, “Got what?”

“The premise for my guild! Now I just have to gather some more people… and get the fee for creating a guild.”

“That’s great,” said Mortimer. He figured she could use some encouragement.

“You’ll join right?”

“...Sure.”

“Good, good. I have some planning to do. I’ll see you later!”

Mortimer was happy that she was out of her bad mood, but he wasn’t exactly sure why. For some reason, he got a bad feeling.

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Mortimer spent more time training with Master Valarao. It was intense, painful, and technically deadly, but he felt that he learned some. He wasn’t really sure if he really had, but he would try some things out in Royal Road, to see if he could really do them. Even though Master Valarao was apparently at the same physical level as him here, Mortimer couldn’t keep up with his movements, and his attacks were full of power. Mortimer was glad to have someone strong to learn from, although he almost wished Master Valarao were a little bit weaker so he could feel he had a chance of even scratching him.

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Quietus logged on well before Angelo and the rest would be able to log back on. He had some things he needed to do beforehand.

First, he went to get things identified. Of the things the boss dropped, there was only one thing immediately useful to him. Interestingly enough, he had trouble getting it identified. Not because it was hard to identify, but because he couldn’t get it out of his bag. This was the floating translucent ring, and he couldn’t touch it. He had to use soul bind on it again, since it appeared to have worn off. Once identified, it had some interesting properties.

Spirit ring

Durability: N/A

This ring has no physical form. It is full of the lingering memories of The Angry Foreman and his workers. He and his men were killed when the mine collapsed and trapped them inside. Now, they are trapped in this ring.

Equip:

+10% damage (and pain) to those who have injured the wearer of the ring, or their friends. Effect stacks for each member affected.

+40 Sadism

Special: Cannot be equipped, unless manifested into physical form

Requirements:

Must have the Sadism stat.

This ring seemed like it would be pretty useful… although it seemed likely he would have to use Soul Bind to activate it.

As he was about to leave, he remembered one more thing. His dagger. After it was finally identified, he looked at its stats.

Sacrificial Dagger of the Apprentice

Durability: 20/100

Damage: 45-64

Rumors have it that this dagger was given to the apprentice of a powerful necromancer. However, the apprentice died before gaining enough power to be as strong as his master.

This dagger contains some of his lingering magic. It allows the weapon to repair its own durability when soaked in blood. It can also increase in strength when bathed in the blood of strong enemies.

Special: Causes bleeding damage with every hit, based on the damage dealt.

Quietus now understood why his dagger had still been useful even as he increased in level. More so, he understood why it had not needed repairs before. It did now, however, since he had mostly been fighting ghosts. A dagger that got stronger would always be useful… as long as he used it. Plus, the bleeding damage worked well with his sadism stat.

Next Quietus went to the town hall. He went up to a person who looked like a receptionist. “Hello, I’ve cleared the Moaning Mines. I’m here to collect my reward.”

“Ha! That’s a good one. What did you do, kill everything once? It’ll never be clear. What are you actually here for?”

“I’ve cleared it. The ghosts won’t be coming back.”

The receptionist looked at him. “Seriously? That’s… but you don’t seem to be lying. Let me send you to the mayor. He’ll need to know.”

In the mayor’s office, Quietus was also met by some skepticism. “Many people have claimed to clear the mine before, only to have the ghosts return the next day. Why should you be any different?”

Quietus thought about this. He assumed he was obviously different because he’d gotten a quest saying he cleared the mines. “What would prove to you that the ghosts are gone for good?”

“The ghosts had some unsolved lingering anguish. They could not be set free until their hatred was quenched. Tell me, what held them to this world?”

Quietus shifted a bit awkwardly. Technically, the ghosts still hadn’t been set free. “Well, they were afraid of being trapped in the mine collapse. They couldn’t fight it, so they couldn’t be at peace.”

“Oh? Nobody else had heard about the mine collapse. It just so happens that I do believe you, though, because the mine has been clear and stayed that way. We received reports that it appeared to be clear three days ago.”

“Yes, that about the time that I finished.”

“Hmm, good. We do actually have a reward prepared.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of his desk. “It’s not worth much now, but once we get the mines up and running again, with better safety precautions, it should be worth quite a bit.”

You have completed a quest!

Level up!

Fame +100

Public Service in Twinsburg Heights is now 1st

Quietus took the piece of paper.

Partial Stake in the Twinsburg Heights Mines

5% of the proceeds from the Twinsburg Heights Mines shall go to the owner of this stake. It is possible to set up a deposit of funds into an account so that the stakeholder need not collect the proceeds in person.

“Thank you very much.”

“No, thank you. Our best source of prosperity has been regained, so our city can now grow again. Perhaps we will even be able to fill up all the empty houses we have.”

Quietus hadn’t noticed a lack of people… but he also hadn’t noticed an abundance. The places he had visited, the Assassin’s guild and the morgue, seemed prosperous enough, but they weren’t really a good judge of the overall state of the city.

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Quietus was waiting. He could be pretty patient if he needed to. This time, he was waiting in a tree. Then, he heard someone talk.

“What? Where am I?”

Quietus had been disappointed that he couldn’t restrain Abaddon during his death. Still, Abaddon shouldn’t be trouble for Quietus if he played his cards right.

This time, he summoned two spectral hands on either side of Abaddon. They took turns firing at him, and it was disorienting enough after just logging in that he wasn’t prepared for it. When he was just below half health, Quietus went in and fought him using his dagger and some of Master Valarao’s techniques.

Although he had to dodge some fireballs, Quietus still managed to break Abaddon’s wrist with his left hand, and stab him with the right. Then he disabled Abaddon’s limbs one by one, until he couldn’t move around or cast spells properly. Quietus would have probably done some more, but Abaddon bled to death fairly quickly after that. Not before being Soul Bound again, of course.

Quietus was okay with that, because he had something else he had to do. Of course, not before he looted Abaddon again. This time he got a ring with 5% mana regeneration increase. Not bad. He would use that.

He sent a message. “Hey, meet me in the town square. I found some stuff you can have.”

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Quietus dumped all of his loot into Angelo’s arms. “I found this stuff and I don’t like talking to people and selling stuff. Some of it looked like you might be able to use it. So, take it. Also,” he pulled out the paper he had received earlier, “I do kind of want this, but you should take it to help your guild.”

“You’re joining the guild, too, you know.” Angelo looked at the paper. “Err…”

“The mines are clear so they’re going to start mining again.”

“Oh! Thanks, this is probably worth a lot. I’m not going to ask if you’re sure you want to give it to me, because then you might change your mind.”

“Good choice.”

“So… where’d you find all this other stuff? Some of it looks… familiar.”

“I found all of that on the ground.”

“On something… or someone… you killed?”

“Nope, it was all just lying there.” Quietus could say that, because Abaddon hadn’t managed to pick up any of the items Angelo and the others had dropped. Technically he hadn’t killed The Forsaken Foreman either. Abaddon’s stuff he had kept- just a robe he wasn’t sure if he would ever use, and the ring he had just gotten.

“Interesting… I didn’t tell you what happened, but my party and I were killed by the magician who had been in our group. I think some of this stuff was ours.”

“Well, maybe he didn’t want it. Some people are crazy.”

“... Right. I somehow doubt he didn’t want it though.”

“Well, I’ve gotta go turn in a quest I have. I’ll see you later, cousin.”

“Bye! Thanks for the pile of stuff!”

Quietus then left the conversation that had been becoming more awkward behind. He still had his actual quest to turn in… and he needed to buy a big bag. Maybe he should visit the guild again...

End Chapter 28

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