[Create Undead has reached Level 2]

[Eyes of Death has reached Level 2]

[Karinthian Necromancer has reached Level 3

- 5 Stat points have been awarded]

[A new skill has been acquired: Revigorise]

[Revigorise - Level 1]

- Heal the dead. Decomposition can now be reversed thanks to the marvel of magic. There are limits however. Skeletons and spirits will not be affected by this spell and severe injuries will require more mana to heal.

'I still haven't spent the last five points yet. That spell is exactly what I need though.'

Sarah looked at the two children and winced. Immediately activating her new spell, she used Revigorise on the two rotting children. Their wounds drew shut and the deathly smell began to slowly fade from the deserted alleyway. The children looked were much easier on the eyes after Sarah has finished and, other than being paler than a pair of vampires, Sarah felt confident that she would be able to guide them back to her tower without being drawing any unearned attention.

[Revigorise has reached Level 2]

A raindrop bounced of her face and was soon followed by more as the heavens opened up as the night sky began to hammer down over the sleeping city. Sarah didn't waste any time and immediately capitalised on the opportunity she had been presented with.

'This time it's definitely ok to thank the universe, right? Fuck it. Thank you, Universe!'

"Ok kids. It's time to move. Be fast and don't talk. Nod if you understand me." Lifeless eyes gazed at Sarah until both children nodded. The boy and girl looked fairly similar, sporting the same brown hair and eyes, which led Sarah to believe they were siblings.

'Poor guys. There's some horrible bastards in this world too it would seem.'

Sarah moved to where the alleyway met the street and the children followed closely behind her. Unsure of her decision to turn the children into undead, but determined in her goal of getting them home safely, Sarah broke into a sprint and began heading toward the guard house 3.

The rain was heavier in the open street and everyone still out was rushing by, trying their best to get home as fast as possible. No one stopped to pay any attention to the woman dressed in green and her two dirty children also running home. The undead children managed to keep up with Sarah quite well as she held a steady at the front.

'They're not actually that slow for corpses. All though everyrhing I've every seen has depicted undead as slow-moving creatures, especially zombies. Although, I've got to stop basing my knowledge on the programmes I've seen on TV.'

As reluctant as she was to run past Leo's place of work, Sarah was still unfamiliar with most of the city, and didn't want to chance getting lost. Especially when her visibility was impaired by the rain and the fact that she didn't know any other way back.

Fortunately, people running to escape the rain wasn't an uncommon sight in Grower and they made it past the two sentries posted outside without trouble.

'Sentry duty blows.'

They kept running as Sarah counted down the streets to where she had first being accosted by Leo. With each one she passed, she felt her connection to the tower slowly reestablish itself. It had been small to begin with yet by the time Sarah had to turn a corner, she could feel the tower almost guiding her. Her confidence grew and as she came to a skidding stop in front of a small, white-bricked cottage, she knew exactly was she was.

The zombie children managed to keep pace with Sarah all the way back and followed behind as she stepped through the barrier that prevented people from seeing the tower's entrance. Thankful to be back, Sarah let out a deep breath and smiled at Ariel. It had been an informative evening to say the least.

"You won't believe what happened, Ariel. First, I nearly got arrested as soon as I left the tower. Then, the very-same guard took me on a tour of the city. I'm pretty sure he was into me, but he's a lion and a guard to boot so that's never going to happen. Anyway, after he'd gone back to the guard house, I'd seen these children laying lifeless in an alleyway, for who knows how long and I couldn't just leave them there. So... what do you think we should do with them?"

"Master, first let me say welcome home." Ariel bowed toward Sarah before looking at the two undead children. She then looked back to her master and kept her mouth thoroughly closed.

"And? What do we do with them?" Sarah took Ariel by the shoulder and began to shake her.

"I... don't know, Master. They are not my children. Also, I am unsure what children do. Please stop shaking me."

Sarah was left looking at another useless tower resident. 'These guys are great at their job, but anything else... anything else and they're hopeless.'

"Come with me." The two children followed Sarah upstairs as she led them to the master room.

'What am I going to do with these two? I couldn't leave them there, but I didn't really need to turn them into living dead now that I'm thinking about it. If I would told the guards, they would have probably taken them away and arranged for burials,' she sighed. 'I can only blame myself for wanting to test that stupid undead spell. I don't even want to be a stupid Necromancer so why did I even bother?'

"Master. Welcome back." Sarah was greeted by Solus and Sebastian. The pair were in the middle of a game that seemed relatively similar to chess. Sebastian was moving Solus' pieces for him.

"You two look like you're having fun." Sarah couldn't help but comment, not intending to ruin their moment. That was what happened, however. "Master. I am sorry for being so inconsiderate of my duty. I will get back to cleaning."

"Slow down, Seb. Don't worry about it. Your main job is to keep Solus company. He needs it after being alone for who knows how long. In fact, I have two more friends for you right here, buddy." Sarah smiled mischievously at the old door knowing he wouldn't say no to more company. He had been starved of attention for more than a few millenia afterall. Also the two undead didn't eat, sleep, or need any other additional human or canine needs. Not that Sarah thought there would be much in the way of difference between the two. In a sense, they were the perfect addition to the tower.

'I wonder if I can use them for the trials or something like that? We'll see.'

"Why did you say it like that? Do you have some kind of ulterior motive?" Solus asked doubtfully. He was sure Sarah had another reason to palm off the two life-less children stood behind her.

"Seb. How good are you at chess?" Sarah ignored Solus' questions like a boss and wondered if she would be able to make a trial out of the game. "My record against Solus is twenty-eight to one and my skill level is twelve, Master." The butler looked pleased with himself for his high skill levels.

"Wait a minute. You have a skill in chess?"

"Yes!, Master. Although the skill is related to board games in general. You should be able to check my status and view it for yourself as I'm connected to the tower." Sarah did as he said and brought up Sebastian's status.

Name: Sebastian

Class: Game Master Level 4

Skills:

- Boardgames Level 12

- Strategy Level 3

- Patience Level 1

'That's a pretty specific assortment of skills. I wonder if Seb finds Solus a little bit annoying perhaps? It could be how he picked up the patience skill? Maybe. It's more than likely related to the chess game though.'

[Solus has always been a little infuriating. Even the last master thought so.]

'Shit. I forgot you were still under there. Can we still communicate if I put you back in the ring?' Sarah pulled the Book of Souls out from under her shirt and stored it away.

[Yes, Master. Also, I have collected five souls.]

'What? When did you do that? I didn't see any souls out there. We'll talk about Solus soon, that should be funny. Right now though, I really want to spend those souls. I'm hoping that the customisation option includes a toilet.' Spending a single soul, that she otherwise didn't know she had until right then, Sarah unlocked the Tower of Death's customisation feature.

[Customisation]

- All current features are now changeable at no added cost. Additional features can now be added to the master room for a fixed amount of souls.

Scrolling through the relatively large list of new features, Sarah stopped when she found what she was looking for.

- Master Room: Bathroom (2)

She paid an additional two souls, one for the bathroom and another for its upgrade because people need to pee in style, and a new door formed beside the depleted bookcase.

'That door looks awfully similar to the three rotting ones out in the hall only exquisite.'

On the opposite of the door, Sarah found herself on a small corridor with three doors. One being the master room's entrance and two new ones. She entered the closest one first. Inside, the entire was tiled and a porcelain toilet was sat nearly against the wall.

'Yes!'

Sarah felt as though a weight has been lifted of her shoulders as she wasted no time closing the door behind her. That was the first time she had used a toilet since arriving two days ago. When she had finished, she briefly wondered where the waste went before she brushed the thought away with a single word. "Magic."

Sarah washed her hands in the lovely basin before she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

"I look like I've just finished phase one training all over again."

She smiled at the memory and was about to plug the sink to clean up a little when she remembered there was still another room to check. All she had purchased was the bathroom and its upgrade, but two doors had appeared and Sarah had only checked one.

'Please be a bath.'

Sarah's hopes we're riding high as she opened the door and they weren't squashed for once either. A quarter of the floor was laminated in dark oak until you reached the steps that led down into the bath. The room-sized feature which would be classed as a swimming pool back on Earth, reached the back wall and Sarah couldn't help but notice that it was longer than the tower width outside.

'How is that possible?. Did I die again only to end up in heaven this time? That would be the bomb.'

[No, Master. You are still on Ciria.]

'Is that what this place is called? Ciria? I did wonder after seeing the maxed language skill, but I've been known to wrong so I kept my mouth shut. It makes sense though. Also, I was only joking about dying. I'd definitely know if that happened. Believe me.'

Towels were folded neatly over wall-mounted rails with shelving beside it for storing clothes. Oils and soaps, all of which Sarah had never seen before, lined the lengthy stretch of the bath ready for her use. She couldn't help but notice that there was also no faucet or plug.

Instead, the otherworldly pool had two square-shaped blocks in it. One near the top and one on the bottom. Sarah noticed that they were similar to the one she had seen the rookie guard, this world's Sander's no less, use to open the door to the cell block. Putting her hand on the one on them, nothing happened.

'Do I have to do something specific? Is that why it took Sander's so long to open the door?'

Sarah touches all five sides of the square-shaped object but nothing worked.

'Why doesn't you work? I know this is a bath and seeing how there are no taps, it's got to be you. So, why won't you work?'

[Talking to the runic device will not help, Master. You have to apply magic to make them work.]

'OK. How do I do that? All my magic is capable of doing is seeing dead people, creating dead people and punching through the floor. I really don't want to punch my new bath.' No response was given from the Book of Souls so Sarah decided to activates eyes of the dead, just to see if produce results.

It didnt.

After a quick look at her status, she decided to try Necrotic Body instead.

- Necrotic Body - Level 1: In your body resides the secrets of death, obtained by becoming master of the tower. Your body radiates with power, slightly increasing your magic proficiency. Dexterity, Intelligence and Wisdom are all increased by 40% while in this state.

With the increase in intelligence and wisdom, Sarah was hoping it might help her figure out how to work the runes. She was beginning to grow agitated. Activating the skill, her body began to let off a soft glow. Coincidentally, it just so happened to be the same colour that dominated the Tower of Death's home decor, dark green. The moment she activated the skill l, however, she immediately felt as though she understood the world a little better.

Sarah put her hand back on the rune-imprinted cube. She hoped the mana-needed feature would be automatic, but was left wanting once again. "Damn!" She tried again with both hands, yet she was still unable to get it to work it. After trying many different ways, Sarah was reaching her limit.

"Stupid fucking runes! Why aren't you easier to use?" Sarah went to poke the cube in frustration until a green jolt of electricity made a connection between them. It was also followed by a notification informing her that she had done something right.

[A new skill has been unlocked: Mana Manipulation]

[Mana Manipulation - Level 1]

- You now have a slight understand of what mana is and how it works. Use this insight to further your own knowledge, but beware. The magic you wield is volatile and full of death. It holds no regard for one's life so be careful what you put it in.

'Why do all my descriptions have to revolve around death? And what does it mean, put it in? I bet everyone else's descriptions are sunshine and rainbows.'

Sarah tried to form another connection to the runic device by finger banging it, but once again she was unsuccessful.

[You are Master of the tower. It makes sense that your status would different to others.]

'Yeah, but mine were weird as fuck before I became the master. In fact, I'm pretty sure it started before I even got here.'

Sarah placed her hand on the cube, willing the hell out of it to do something she tried again to establish a connection through her so-called volatile mana.

[How did you come to be here, Master? Not to pry, but you don't appear to have many other skills aside from the ones you possess in necromancy. Not to mention the fact that you know literally nothing about Ciria, even though you are a fully-grown adult.]

'Should I tell her what happened? Fuck that. It's hard enough to think about, let alone say it out loud.'

Feeling a touch lonely since leaving Leo's company, Sarah thought it would be nice to talk to someone properly without actually holding back. At the same time, she managed to establish a connection with the runic cube and water began pouring out of it. She felt the mana leave her hand as hot water began to soak her skin.

[I am sorry, Master. As we are connected, I can still hear your thoughts. Also, I have no gender.]

'Shit! I don't know how I forgot that since we were just literally communicating with each other. I have the worst memory, you know? I suppose it'll be fine to tell you. It's not as though you can tell anyone else, is it?' Sarah laughed while she watched water flow from everywhere, but at the same time nowhere, on the cube. It wasn't a slow flow either and the extremely large bath was being filled up extremely fast.

'I'm guessing the one in the bottom is the plug then?'

As the water level was rising, Sarah described the tragic series of events that started with the death of two of her close friends. Still only days ago, although so much had happened that Sarah felt she'd earned a lifetimes worth of experience, the memories of the war torn, third-world country were still fresh in her mind.

As Sarah went on, exaggerating her heoric sacrifice to the max - it deserved the glorification seeing as how death by grenade was the reason she wound up on Ciria, she began undressing. The cold, wet necromancer garb was a welcome relief to be rid of and as she stepped into the steaming water, euphoria filled her cold bones.

Sarah had kept the ring on to communicate with her book and everything else was stored inside. As the heat traveled up her body, Sarah slowly sat down and continued her story. Not that there was much left to tell at that point.

'Then I got a title that said I had lost my body and I was like "What the hell?" After that there were a few more deaths, and a few more titles, until I finally got passed Solus and received the dodgy-ass Necromancer class. Anyway, I realised the master room was just another dead end, so I tried my best to escape the tower and ended up dying again. I did find this nice ring though for my efforts on that last one though and I pulled you out of it right after I respawned.'

Resting her back against the tub, Sarah closed her eyes and enjoyed the comfort of the hear rising around her.

'Anyway, today's a different day and you still need a name.