Time passed by quickly as Rahkim set the energies within is Life Well in order with ease as unlike last time he had not consumed more of the rogue elements than his mind could withstand. Shortly after finishing refining the life energy he had consumed, Rahkim looked around the ruined bedroom he had occupied with a sense of apprehension as he began to think,

'Ever since I awoke to this world I have been acting almost on instinct with nothing to go on, but vague memories and feelings. However, I know to little of what this world truly is and the rest of my memories are gone or simply to far away from me to grasp …

There are so many questions, and too few answers. Where am I? Is the rest of the world like the ruins of this city, infested with undead ruled by some hidden puppet-master?

I want to know who caused my Master's death, I want to understand what this 'Cycle' is, but first I need to learn about this world I've forgotten. This city seems to have been a place where magic thrived, so surely something must have survived that can answer my questions right?'

With that thought in mind, Rahkim stood up and grabbed the silvery sword he had left leaning against the bed with one hand before seemingly weighing it in front of him.

The sword's hilt was wrapped in simple leather and fit more for two hands than one, but despite the evidence that pointed toward it being a two-handed sword, the blade seemed light in Rahkim's hands. He knew that the blade was truly heavy and that it wasn't the sword itself that made it light, but something about his current form made such weight seem … insubstantial.

Running his bone fingers along the blade Rahkim muttered,

“And you, you are just yet another unanswered question that I can't even begin to understand. The appearance of a normal sword, but a far superior quality that seems to border on magical yet all that seems to set you apart is excessive durability and sharpness. Sometimes I can't tell if the gods of this world wish to damn, or bless me ...”

With a shake of his head the undead wizard left the ruin he had claimed as a temporary home and set out into the city once more with a solid goal in mind. He needed power now, but even more important was his need for knowledge. A city this large that had contained even a small group of magic users would surely have at least one home that contained books, he just needed some of those to be even partially intact.

Keeping that in mind Rahkim forged a connection with the Darkness inside of the Void Gem, and felt his senses expand to fill the alley he was standing in and beyond. He spent a few moments simply rejoicing in the feeling of freedom this expansion of senses gave him before beginning to stalk through the alley leaving a small triangular notch at the bottom of the walls as he left.

'Even if I don't seem to forget anything I learn after waking up it's probably best not to test whether that is based on having so little to remember, or not.'

Done with that Rahkim set out into the nearby ruins in search of anything that might be of use to him in the days to come, and while the house he had chosen wasn't the best of bases it would have to do for now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With each building Rahkim searched he began to become more and more impressed by how outright skilled the craftsmen of this city seemed to have been. Even now, after such a long time of neglect so much of the city was still standing, and quite a bit of what had been made to fill it was still intact if somewhat eroded by the passage of time.

By now he had seen dozens of different homes in the multistory buildings and thought a fair amount of furntiure was made from wood that had long began to rot there was even more made of finely carved stone.

Of course with the city seemingly built deep underground there was an abundance of stone around to work with, but despite the quality of the stone furniture it was not the item Rahkim was glad to find. Whatever this city used to be it's people seem to have been fairly fond of reading, or very well educated as he could find numerous books in most homes though very few had managed to survive their sworn enemy.

Even in spite of this he had managed to salvage some readable materials from the many buildings he searched along with various odds and ends that might come in handy later.

Of course in a bid to ensure his safety Rahkim had left the Void Gem's Darkness aspect active so by the time he had returned back to the temporary home he was already feeling slight exhaustion. With his makeshift bag full and a number of items slung over his shoulder, Rahkim stumbled his way up the stairs to the bedroom before unceremoniously dumping it all onto the rotting straw mattress.

Looking down at the rather haphazard collection he had obtained, Rahkim felt the desire to grimace but quickly realized he didn't have the face to show that. Letting out a sigh he began to mutter out loud as he went through it all,

“So far I managed to find a hammer, a length of rope about ten feet long, a pile of rusty nails from old furniture, a few heavily rusted knives, a flint and steel …

Now that I hear myself saying all of this I'm starting to feel like this stuff is more junk than actually useful, but it's not like there was much else to choose from …”

Releasing yet another sigh Rahkim turned to the cloak turned bag as he began to pull out what he considered the more valuable finds of his search. From the bag he pulled out several pieces of partially decayed paper, two very badly damaged leather bound books, and a very yellow, faded piece of what could only be a map. Though the map was only a small fragment of a larger one by Rahkim's estimation it was likely to be useful, after all the map had several unique landmarks surrounding what it labeled as a guard barracks.

If he could find that and this 'Master' hadn't claimed it as his own then perhaps it could become Rahkim's base of operations though by his account that day was still far away. Turning his sight onto the two books he felt a small hint of joy as he read the faded covers.

'A Brief History of the Under Realm' and 'A Commoner's View on the Rulers of Jotenheim, Magicians'