Soft footsteps echo in the distance, soon drowned out by a cacophony of weightless, skeletal ones.
Zero walks his black cloak hanging from his head covering him.
Through the darkness of night, he eyes glowed deviously, the corner of his mouth widening the closer he got.
707 bone walkers marching behind him as they reach a 25-foot reinforced steal gate.
As he reaches it, he stands right in front of it as the whole army stops behind him.
He peers up to the top of the large door as he did.
Thoughts started to churn in his mind.
*Mana circulates through my body more naturally now, and my soul feels tougher too. * He smirks *Time to test it all out*
He placed his hand gently on the centre of the gate.
Instantly, both doors were torn from their hinges with surgical precision—ripped away cleanly while leaving the gate's frame completely untouched.
The heavy doors sailed through the air, crashing far into the town with resounding clangs that echoed off empty buildings. Yet somehow, no one stirred from their sleep.
As Zero stepped through the empty frame, his bone walkers poured in behind him like a silent tide.
Without a single word or gesture, they spread throughout the town in perfect formation—groups of 176 moving to annihilate each guard post.
Zero continued down the main thoroughfare, passing rows of darkened buildings and empty streets. Minutes later, he emerged into the market square.
Then spoke normally with, his voice enhanced with mana allowing it to boom across the town.
"Any strong people come to the market square! I am the boss here; you want this to stop this you must get through me!"
He said a playful grin painting his voice.
Closing, his eyes.
He waited for anyone to appear *brilliant plan by me hehe!* he thought tapping his foot patiently
5 minutes later he was still waiting.
Clanging of metal clashing could be heard more vividly now but zero was unbothered still waiting for his own fight.
Another 5 minutes more….
His eyes still closed a line of sweat came down the side of his temple.
His patience growing thin.
Another 5 minutes later….
He was sat on ground cross legged.
His voice booms again "Hey! Anyone! Market square! come now!"
Yawning he speaks to himself
"This is soo booring !"
Then after even more time had passed, bells rang for emergency guard posts had been hit hard by the assaults but only one completely taken out, with only its captain and lieutenant surviving.
The other three either fought bone walkers off, made them retreat and scatter around the town.
Zero was fast asleep cross-legged head slumped on his hand.
5 warriors stand around him stood around him.
"Is that the boss or just a kid?" one of them questioned
A big heavy armoured man with a large mace walks up.
"I don't care, never seen him, so he must be the enemy!"
No hesitation he raises his mace up and swings down on zero in his slumber….
He *gasped* sharply
As his mace stopped on a small purple barrier that covered zero.
"Wha. A barrier?... A-and.., it's draining my strength?" he said as his arms shook against the barrier.
His vision blurred slightly as he started get wobbly.
"Lieutenant, what's wrong?!" one of the others shouted.
The voice barely reached him.
He wobbled and swayed in confusion.
Too weak to even lift his mace up off the barrier.
"w-what's goin. On" he visions started to slowly align again.
Zeros was looking up at him eyes weary like he just woke. Still trying to comprehend what's going on.
Noticing Zero he screamed, "Ah!!"
Mustering all the strength he could he lifted his mace off the barrier trying to get back. But zero held his hand out his mana enveloped him stopping him in his tracks.
"Wait…"
He said groggily, while rubbing his eyes he stood up and walked closer and looked up at this big guy
"Too tall" he said flatly
Zeros mana forced him to his knee's the man's armour clanging against the rock beneath him.
He got up to his face.
Rubbing his eyes to make sure…
Finally realising, Zero grin cheerfully,
"Finally, people to fight!"
The man, desperately tried to squirm but Zeros energy thinly coated keeping him still and in place.
"oh my!"
He turned his head around, while pointing he counted, "One. Two. Three. Four. Five… andddd"
Then pointing at the warrior he's holding still.
"Six!"
Then he puts his two fingers to his chest and sending the big guy crashing at the start of tower sending it crumbling down on top of him, blood soon seeped out from the bottom.
"I mean. Five." His tone dropped cold, hand still stretched out.
Everyone was stunned with shock, but as zero turned around looking at all of them, they immediately readied their stances.
They all stood readying their weapons at different sides of zero.
Zero's face turned smug as he raised his hands. His tone back to normal.
"First, let's make this more exciting!"
Still facing forward, he casually turned one arm behind him and launched a tiny fireball toward the gate. As it travelled through the air, it began expanding rapidly, growing larger and larger until it became a massive sphere of flame wider than the broken gate itself.
The explosion erupted with such force that waves of scorching heat reached all the way to the market square. Every warrior fell silent, some beginning to sweat as they stared in stunned disbelief at the sheer power displayed before them of this seemingly ordinary boy.
The entire entrance was now engulfed in roaring flames.
"Also, those are not normal flames so don't even think about it!"
"Anyway, what was I going to propose mmmmm"
Zero thought with hand on his chin.
Tapping his foot
The air was tense. With each tap, the warriors' anticipation grew, some of them visibly shaking, gulping even restless.
"OH! Ok I got it. Let's play a game!"
First, he bends down coating his fingertip in mana drawing a tiny purple lined circle about three feet wide around his feet.
Then standing up he speaks, raising his finger
"So basically, what will happen is I won't move from this spot, I will let everyone try to hit me once and if you miss you die ok?"
He tapped his foot on the circle.
Everyone was struck by mixture of silence and confusion but one who caught on shouted "and if we hit!"
Zero's face turns smug; his tone drops low.
"You can try, but you won't get that far."
….
His tone going back to normal he says with a playful grin.
"Anyway, you can start now"
Everyone looked at each other
All of them scared to go first.
Worried.
Some would signal for another to go first.
But none would move nerves rising even higher
"If it easier I can just choose who I want to kill first?"
One of them a captain, with a jet black mohawk breaks toward zero.
Yelling at top of his lungs, with dual swords in hands.
He tries to downward slash zero he misses as zero sways to side his feet still in the circle.
"Nice hair!" zero compliments his grin wider than the mohawk
Then the guy follows-up with his second hit but zero raises his finger his mana stopping him in his tracks.
Swaying his finger
"No cheating, I said once!"
He grins as he lets the guy swing go past him, pointing two fingers toward his stomach blowing a tiny hole straight through his armour and out his lower back.
It fizzles with necrotic ooze for a heartbeat before dissolving into nothing.
The captain mohawk guy falls hard to his knees, panting heavily. Clutching his wound as hot blood spilled from his mouth, splattering on the cold ground in front of zero.
Repositioning his feet turning to face the mohawk captain, as he looked up at zero.
"Unlucky. Better luck next time…." he said his face plain.
"oh, wait there is no next time!" His face twisted as he brought his fingers to the captain's forehead and flicked him away.
"Four."
The mohawk captain crashes through a building. Dead.
As zero is about to turn around
Another man shoots an arrow at him, but he sways to side dodging it.
He instantly created blood spikes from the blood mohawk captains' blood, they formed mid-air.
"Ready?" Zeros stance wide his grin malicious.
The arrow captain looked terrified, as they were sent toward him a blistering speed.
Splintering him each one hitting a nerve.
Making him fall to ground convulsing frantically.
Before he ultimately Dies.
"Three"
But then another captain, a women clad in armour.
Jumps over zero trying to slash down.
"Oh, oh interesting."
He says as he stops her mid-air with telekinesis and puts her gently to the side.
She felt dumbfounded.
He shrugs "no one said I couldn't just do that..."
She instantly tries to slash deadly blow to his neck.
But he already ducked under it, while two purple orbs materialised on either side of him.
*Let me try this*
He then touched her armour mid duck sending blackened decay all over her.
A wave blackened energy washed all over her whole armour body.
Then instantly all her armour busted into bits and pieces including her helmet leaving only her chain mail.
Zero then stands up fully, while simultaneously turning the, orbs mini-sized and sending them into her mouth.
Then using telekinesis, he flings her up into the sky.
As she explodes body parts and remnants of armour flying everywhere.
"Two left now!"
One lieutenant steps back. "Forget this! Am running!" Drops his weapons and runs away.
Zero looks disappointed as his shadow just grows reaching under the man.
He looks down "where this shadow coming from?"
Shadow snakes sprouting out of it, as they stick on to the guy and binding to his ankles.
Dragging him slowly toward zero by the ankles.
Then they bite his wrists flip him around back facing the ground.
Zero smiles maniacally as he gets on top of the guy and puts his hand to his face and start decaying it.
His face slowly and gruesomely decays the guy calls out and shouts for help, but he doesn't get as the last person, a women lieutenant…
Just stands there petrified with fear.
"This is your punishment hahaha!" zero cackles sadistically
The shadows of zeros action were being portrayed on building behind her as she slowly sinks to the ground, holding her mouth, her legs trembling in terror.
Zero's laughter continues to get louder and louder smothering his screams of terror
...
Then
Zero letting go of the guys face, parts of his skull now showing in shape of zeros palm.
Skin slipping off his face, in a horrible mush.
Zero nonchalantly stands up, commenting
"He would be a great undead…oh that reminds me I can summon new things now"
As zero talks to himself, the lieutenant was struck with so much fear, Urine starts pooling around her.
Zero pays no mind to her as he flicks through his now appeared spell book excitedly.
The women lieutenant sits stunned at the boy, her thoughts rushing.
"How could anyone defeat three peak E ranks and three E-ranks all at once?...He wasn't even taking us serious either, I mean even a peak D rank like our commander, would struggle to defeat this many of us."
"Not even just that but he hasn't moved an inch from that spot"
Her eyes wide in terror, a realisation dawn on her
"What can I do, we are all doomed…"
she grabs her spear lifting it….
Zero readjusts his focus on the last one.
She lifts spear and turns it toward herself.
*Let me just end it to save the trouble. *
"NO! WAIT!"
She stops just neigh from her throat
"You can't do it, please don't!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"well I need to finish game obvio-!"
She groans, pulling it toward her throat but zero flicks it away with his telekinesis.
"Nope, my game, my rules!"
"Fine. Whatever just do it!" she gives in
"And you won't feel pain"
"Whatever. Make it quick." She closes her eyes
Zero raises his arm up toward her, she puts her head down waiting…
"Well…. Physical pain that is." He mutters to himself.
A normal bolt of fire shows up in his palm.
The fire phases into her and for just a second, she felt nothing at all.
She looked up, patting her body in confusion. "Why's nothing hap—"
Suddenly, an indescribable burning erupted from deep within her—not on her skin, but somewhere far deeper. She screamed as the fire consumed her from the inside out, her life force being drained away with vicious intensity.
In the span of a heartbeat, flames engulfed her entire body. Through the inferno, only the dark silhouette of her skeleton could be seen, her very soul shrinking and crumbling apart before his eyes.
When the flames finally died out, she collapsed—nothing more than a dried, empty husk on the ground.
Zero then mutters to himself. "well, that was fun. But that surely can't be all the strong fighters rig-?"
"Hey!" someone shouts behind him, interrupting.
Zero turns around in intrigued
He then gasped in amazement.
As he saw bulky dwarf holding a war hammer with one hand, while pointing at him.
"Did you cause all this, kid!"
Zero was stunned beyond belief as he slowly walked toward the dwarf.
Until he stood over him.
Using his hand, he measures from his head the difference in height between them both.
"Hey, what are you doing up there!" the dwarf yelled
Zero started looking up and down at it.
"No way…" he muttered under his breath.
"what! Answer dammit!" the dwarf recalled.
Zero's face twisted as he struggled to suppress a laugh, his lips twitching with barely contained amusement.
The dwarf looked visibly creeped out as Zero's twisted gaze bore down on him from above.
"Eh..." The dwarf stared back, confusion written across his weathered features.
Then Zero burst into uncontrollable laughter, throwing his head back and clutching his chest as he doubled over with mirth.
The dwarf's face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.
"Whatever it is, say it to my face, you stupid kid!"
Then getting all in his face zero says "kid? Who you a calling kid? Am only five foot four inches in height, what are you like four foot eleven inches hahaha!"
The dwarf height reached to zero's upper chest.
His face got even redder as he started to shake with anger.
Zero kept laughing in the dwarfs face.
His anger slowly boiling over zero then pats his head "ohh did I make you anger little guyyyy!?"
Zero kept laughing
The dwarf then grips his Warhammer tight.
Raises his Warhammer up in the air with two of hands.
"RRGGHAAA"
Zero instantly backs away, with a smug smear on his face and gaining some distance.
then Zero looks up seeing yellow sigil glow on the face of the Warhammer.
"Oh. This might be fun"
The dwarf slams it down causing yellow magic sparks to travel toward zero rupturing the ground as it went.
From the ground stone spikes suddenly formed.
Inches before it impales him
*Way to slow Hehe he*, Dashing forward in form of shadows phasing right through the spikes and through the dwarf.
The dwarf felt chills all over his body.
Now back-to-back, Zero slowly turned his head, a twisted smile spreading across his face as soft giggles escaped his lips.
"Hehehe..." His laughter echoed like the whisper of a haunting ghost, chilling and unnatural.
A blue beam is fired from the side, without even turning to look at it zero had already phased through dwarf again.
A beam soared sparkling with a moon lit glow, through his outline and hit a crumbled tower, exploding it.
The dwarf phased through again.
The shivered feeling now all over his body
"ahhh!" He screams dropping his weapon
He fell to his knees, clutching his shoulders, shaking now caught in this uncomfortable sudden chill.
Zero appearing further into the square.
Looking over smugly he shouts
"what's wrong?" he said knowingly
Holding himself he says, "Stop doing that!" his voice cracking with annoyance
with a single tear sitting on the bottom lid of his eye.
Zero boldly cackles at this.
One mage woman comes in from the side kneeling eyes closed as she speaks
"Commander, we dealt with the rest of the enemies."
The commander wipes his eye, standing up and picking up his Warhammer
"Get ready for your first real battle, lieutenant Morwen"
She stands up but as she opens her eyes she gasps holding her mouth in shock.
"What rank is he commander?"
"Not sure but he's probably quite high considering he caused this mess."
She gulped hard, her eyes started darting around at the scattered corpses littering the ground.
Her gaze stumbled upon one particular body.
Zero's entire hand was embedded through its face, the imprint grotesquely clear in the decaying bone and flesh.
She quickly looked away, clamping her hand tight over her mouth as her stomach lurched, fighting back the urge to be sick.
He glances back, "I know how you feel, but get ready we are entering battle!"
She raised her staff defensively, gripping it with both hands. She wore a long, dark blue dress that draped across her entire body, its hem pooling on the ground around her feet. Her staff was a towering piece of craftsmanship—longer than her 5'7" frame—topped with a decently sized spherical crystal that caught the dim light.
Her pastel blue hair fell in unkempt waves around her shoulders, and her soft, ruby-like eyes created a striking contrast against her weary, battle-worn appearance. Despite her slight exhaustion, she held her ground, staff at the ready.
"Well since everyone is here…"
They both ready as zero stands there in front of them.
As a bandaged captain sneaks up behind Zero, dagger in hand
Zero grabs his staff from his back.
"let's make this even more exciting!"
Raising it in the air
A necrotic, wave of mana comes from his staff of deluxe spreading out all around him.
Spreading through the town.
Each dead corpse in town was touched by it.
Corrupting. Void spirits swirled. Inhabiting. Starting to animate.
All corpses with flesh were rose as thralls.
All defeated bone walkers rose again stronger.
Any dead animals rose as thrall like beasts
Dominating their minds with his authority, as they all wreaked havoc.
The captain behind tries to thrust his sword toward zero.
Hitting his barrier.
But zero doesn't acknowledge it
As captain sees this, he continues to thrust at barrier trying to get through it.
Zero then puts his staff on his back again and raising his other hand up.
Souls from the three captains and three lieutenants float up.
All blue as they all float above zero
Erie whispers piercing everyone's ears as Zero swipes his hand shattering all of them.
Crushing them in ten fragments each then bringing his hand back he corrupted them.
As streak purple mana consumed them from the inside out.
Turning them in fragmental shadow wisps.
Faint globes of light drifted in the air, ghostly spheres tinged with pale blue and black, like dying embers swallowed by shadow.
The sheer number of them swirled in the air like a dark storm, sixty fractured souls hovering and twisting, their black-and-blue forms flickering like shards of dying light caught in a violent wind.
Everyone marvelled at the display.
As they all looked stunned at it.
Drogna emerged from beneath his cloak, her scaly form slithering up behind his neck. She crawled partially around his throat, her sleek body half-visible as the master ebon coil was still wrapped around her torso.
She moved closer to his ear. Sensing her presence, he tilted his head toward her, offering his attention.
She opened her mouth once, then closed it without making a sound.
His expression immediately turned serious.
"Alright thank you" he says calmly
She slowly returns under.
"oh. And! Drogna"
She comes back up.
He holds up his hands doing symbols and gestures
she nods her head returning back again.
"Now then"
As he turns around all the wisps spread throughout the town.
Covering it with their terror going in homes and attaching to people and leaching them dry of their energy.
Empowering themselves.
While making people run with fear.
As they terrorised, it aided the thralls devouring flesh by scaring people toward them.
And helped wear down soldiers.
So, bone walkers could strike them down easier.
As Zero walked up to the captain, the man looked up and instantly gritted his teeth in fury, trying to slash at Zero's head.
But Zero moved faster and flick of his hand and effortless precision, his power ripped the captain's weapon arm from his body in one motion.
Blood sprayed across the ground as the captain collapsed backward, his screams of agony echoing through the air.
Now towering over the fallen man, Zero gazed down with a grim expression.
*It's sad that I must end this so soon. It was just getting good, * he thought, his face darkening with disappointment.
But the dwarf appears behind him "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Without moving or reacting zero phantom dashes.
Backwards
Phasing through the dwarf.
Gaining distance.
But then the dwarfs turn around shaking it off this time
Angrier, than ever the dwarf now raised his Warhammer with energy sparking off it.
Morwen also appears far behind zero, Had her grimoire open, chanting the incantations for a powerful spell, while five moonlit arrowheads floated around her, all aimed at Zero and ready to fire.
The dwarf slams the Warhammer flat into, the ground with all his force.
The impact caused fast, sparking yellow electricity to crackle across the ground, rumbling the earth beneath their feet. Instantly, numerous large stone spikes erupted from the fractured surface.
He roared as he stepped forward, his voice echoing with primal fury.
All the upward-facing stone spikes suddenly pivoted, their jagged points now aimed directly at Zero.
With a mighty swing of his Warhammer, he launched them all hurtling toward his target.
"TAKE THIS!"
Zero seeing all the attacks around him, smiles crazily "MAYBE I CAN HAVE SOME FUN!"
He stands there taking the brunt of the attack with his mana barrier, then as the dust and smoke billowed, four Zeros emerged from different sides of the haze. Two shot into the air while the other two stayed on the ground, all spreading outward and making silly faces at Morwen.
Disgusted She instantly fires them, they start tunnelling toward each, one hitting without fail.
As they exploded necrotic ooze splattering everywhere.
I got them all. He's still in that smoke. I need to be quicker with this Tier 3 spell, she thinks calmly, though her face tightens under the intensity, the pressure mounting as she tries to keep up.
As soon as both attacks had finished.
Zero phantom dashes straight through leaving no disturbance in the smoke and he appears right in front of him, but the dwarf was already in motion to slam zero into the ground, energy pulsating from his weapons face.
Morwen far behind him was shaking up as she felt immense shivers all over her body which shook her a bit, but she stood strong.
*Come on, just a bit more* she thought to herself
She was about to finish her spell two blue magics appeared overlapping in front of her.
Zero didn't give her a chance as he quickly juts two fingers toward her far behind him while he still faces the dwarf
Mid-way through her incantation she is silenced as her mouth shuts closed
The magic circle shattered along with her concentration.
*Impossible, from that range? He was able use a spell on me* she thinks
She Shakely sighs, a line of sweat forming on the side of her temple
* It will be ok, let me try this then. *
She gritted her teeth, gripping her staff with both hands as her mana made it glow and crackle with power.
She thrust it forward, sending a massive wave of energy toward them both.
In that same instant, Zero sent his palm toward the dwarf while twisting away from the incoming attack. Mid-twist, he swiped his finger across his armour, black energy pulsing across its surface, busted his armour into pieces then,
Still in motion, he spun upward and leaped into the air, behind and atop the dwarf. With both hands held wide at his sides, he smiled wickedly before swinging them forward.
He used the sheer force of his telekinesis to send the armour less dwarf deep into the ground, his entire body embedded in the crater. Cracks spider-webbed outward from the devastating impact.
The dwarf desperately coated himself in mana reinforcement, just as Zero energy coated him lightly as he landing on top of the dwarf in a stomp, crushing him down harder and driving his opponent even deeper.
A tremor shook the entire town, the cracks stretching further across the broken earth.
Zero cackled as debris and dust settled around them.
He casually slipped his hands into his pockets, head tilted down as the Morwen's mana wave finally reached him, clashing against his barrier in brilliant sparks.
But Zero simply flicked his head toward it, dispersing the entire wave effortlessly. His eyes flashed with deep, twisted purple delight.
Still coated in mana, he stepped directly onto the dwarf's buried head.
"Ahahahaha!" His sadistic laughter echoed across the battlefield.
So absorbed in his gloating, he didn't realize...
Morwen, finished her spell as two blue magic circles completely overlapped, then spread apart her arms. A thick yellow thunderbolt darted toward Zero, flashing across his face before he could even react. His barrier took the hit and began to crack.
Zero stared at it, almost entranced and stunned by its raw power as it shattered his barrier completely.
In that moment, he tried phantom dashed backward, but the already reached for his leg.
Managing to clutch on Zeros foot Just before he could phantom dash, Zero still entranced.
Started to fall back
As the dwarf barely managed to keep hold of his foot.
The wounded captain—his arm now bandaged with his ripped clothes—crawled forward and used his good arm to spin his leg around, kicking Zero's head up directly into the path of the lightning.
The bolt went straight through Zero's head, obliterating it along with his neck. His body collapsed to the ground, necrotic pus bubbling and oozing out of his remnants.
Morwen cheered happily, *We won?*
"Yes!" she lightly smiled
"Don't you think it's too early for that celebration?"
She froze. Before she could turn around, Zero's staff pierced straight through her back, the pointed end protruding from her stomach.
He yanked it out as she collapsed. "No..." she gasped, blood rushing from her mouth as she hit the ground.
Zero grinned down at her. "Also, thanks for the spell. It's pretty cool."
His eyes glowed with purple killer's intent that radiated toward the two remaining warriors.
The dwarf struggled to his feet, stumbling but pushing through with sheer determination. Sighing heavily, he said, "I'm sorry, morwen, am sorry everyone. This is my final stand."
He picked up his Warhammer, his face and body battered and bruised, then rushed forward.
As he ran gritting his teeth, the sigil on his weapon glowed and surged with power, creating spheres of energy at both ends of the hammer.
Zero kept walking calmly toward him as a magic circle formed in front of his outstretched hand, sparking with purple electrical energy.
The circle fired a massive, deep purple thunderbolt.
The dwarf met it head-on with his Warhammer. "RAAAAAA!"
Electricity sparked in all directions, scorching the battlefield around them. Energy arced everywhere as the bolt slowly pushed him back, his Warhammer beginning to crack under the pressure.
"I can't..." He glanced back at his town and the remaining captain. " *Welp, General, I served my part. I served the people. And I lived a life full of Vigor and purpose. *
He let go.
The thunder obliterated his head instantly, then slowly grew larger, consuming his entire body. The beam continued toward the captain.
The captain simply knelt there, looking up at the approaching destruction with a peaceful smile. "We all served the people the best we could."
The thunderbolt eviscerated him completely, then continued straight through the town and the flaming rubble of the gate until it struck a distant mountain, exploding in a massive burst.
Zero looked around at the destruction, frowning slightly. "Well, I had a bit of fun."
He saw some souls raising up to the sky.
"Been awhile now. Time to get a move on now."
He turned around refocussing and looking at his surroundings.
"Oh, fragments survived!"
With his finger he curled his finger toward both, the dwarf, which was a yellow fragment land, the captain which a red one.
He lifted his hand up.
A shadow wisp appeared,
He gave it to the fragments, and it quickly devoured and absorbed them.
It turned a Firey orange in colour.
The wisp flies around him in delight of its new power.
"it's interesting. how it affected it mmmm"
Zero looks over to the girl.
She lay dead
Purple veins stretched across her entire drained face and lifeless body.
A pool of blood surrounding her as he walked to her.
Standing over her, you could tell she was dead. But something seemed to persist, persevere even.
zero crouches down hand on his chin, straight faced.
The wisp flying around him.
"Fascinating…"
He brought out a small, tinted vial of black liquid out.
Looking at it he explained as he shook the contents side to side.
"Your probably wondering, where I got the venom from. Well, this specific vial, I got from an alchemist, I didn't know much about alchemy and potions so, he showed me around, naming each one and how it worked, it was boring, until he told me about the venom, I instantly grabbed it."
"He told me; this specific venom weakens the body by eating your mana and the more mana it eats the more it damages and cripples your body. Ingredients are really scares in Viscura, so he told me it would cost more especially because it was the only one in his store."
He paused for a moment his eye darted at her dead body.
"Am sure you know how that ended."
His eyes darting back at he rubbed his chin looking at it closer.
"Anyway, I placed only a drop of venom on the end of my staff then magically infused it with necrotic magic, so that it not just targets the body but the soul too, it was supposed to diminish both…"
He continues rubbing his chin, putting it away in his pocket then he began inspecting her.
"The soul usually lingers in the body after its death, for around 10 minutes before a soul completely passes, obviously it's not been 10 minutes completely yet, But aside from the effects of the infused necro venom, the point is…"
The wisp keeps flying around his head and past his face.
"That souls during this time feel very faint. But yours now that I am paying attention it's still very vigour's"
He brings his hands out over her body as her soul slowly hover out of her body as he holds it.
"Wow, it's not just your A rank soul quality that's impressive, your soul..."
He looks further into it seeing flowing patterns in it.
"hm? Is this the soul trait thing Alana was telling me about?"
"Think she said it was powerful traits that are extremely rare and can be found in anyone and equally in those of minimum talent"
"Alright then I have made my mind up completely from your strong abilities and your immense talent, I will…."
The wisp continued buzzing around him in wild excitement.
His face twitched with annoyance.
Suddenly, it imploded violently, its miasma floating in the air alongside two now shadowy fragments they pulsed with their distinct colours.
He snatched the fragments from the air, crushing them together in his closed fist. When he opened his palm, it revealed an orange, transparent orb with a core that burned like a steady furnace.
As her soul hovered in his other palm, he forced the orb toward it. Slowly, her soul began absorbing the orange energy, the orb's light dimming as it was consumed…
Deep in a black void,
She floated weightlessly; her body curled in a fetal position. The outline of her form was barely visible against the darkness, her hair drifting like it was underwater, eyes half-closed in exhaustion.
"Why did this have to happen to me? Why today of all days... I finally did what everyone kept pushing me to do—joined the Order just a month ago. Now look at me: stuck in the middle of nowhere, dead." She let out a bitter sigh. "At least I don't have to deal with life anymore. I can just sleep forever."
She slowly stretched her body out, embracing this strange clarity.
"No more getting nagged. No more worrying about expectations. No more disappointment. No more ridicule. No more pressure."
A peaceful smile crossed her face.
"The only downside is there are no books to read here."
"HEY!" a voice suddenly interjected.
Her eyes snapped open in shock, as she faced him.
"Who are you?!"
She backed away frantically.
"It's me, obviously. Dummy. I'm here to give you orders."
"I'd rather stay dead, so just leave me alone," she said, her voice calm but firm.
"Oh, I know. That's exactly why I'm not asking."
An enormous soul-like orange orb appeared beside them, crackling with violent energy.
She looked up at it in horror. "What the—?"
"I'm forcing you into obedience. But first, you need to absorb this."
She tried to flee. "No! Leave me alone!"
He flicked his hand casually, sending her hurtling directly into the orb.
She screamed in agony, fighting desperately as the energy consumed her.
Back in the real world—
Her soul floated upward, transforming into an ethereal blue spirit with glowing white eyes and a wisp-like body that blazed with crackling mana energy.
Zero smirked, his eyes still closed in satisfaction.
*Well, that worked, the void spirit mixed with those other soul fragments I corrupted was strong enough to suppress her consciousness completely for now…"
*This will give me time to think of a way, as the soul is too strong to completely dominate for right now, and she is completely against working for me, so I will just add extra layers of suppression, then add a little precaution for myself, just in case she does break through. * He breaks his train of thought and focuses.
He thrust his hand forward.
Her body crackled with purple energy, surging with even more power as her wisp-like form shifted from blue to deep purple.
"I've given you authority. Now that's out of the way, time for a name!"
Crosses formed in the air made out of her mana above her, spelling out No.
"Spirit Lady?"
No.
"Ghost Lord?"
No.
Zero continued undeterred.
"Wisp Queen?"
No.
"Will-o'-Wisp?"
She formed another crossed No in the air.
Until Drogna went to his
Ear whispering.
"ok" he replied
Drogna comes out of his cloak perching on his shoulder, and jumps of it on the ground.
Hard yet softly.
Zero feels a lightness on his back
"ohhh I feel so much better now!"
Drogna slaps her tail.
He looks over "yah yah, whatever."
He starts drawing a large magic circle on the ground quickly and efficiently
"Anyway, since I don't have time."
He stands up after making a large magic circle holding his staff an inch before it the circle.
"Your instructions are to follow Drogna to the check in. keep him alive as you finish eradicating this town. Then rally the army at this magic circle and use it, then charge to the first town you see."
"I will meet you there. Also, you should devour some souls while your a-" he tapped the tip of his staff on smaller magic circle he made around himself.
Teleporting
Turning Itself into long slope of mana like energy it carried Drogna as she pointing out the way
In the next town raid
A bit of distance away from the original town
There lay a large magic circle
Its pulsed as zero teleported in particles, spreading out as he appeared
Leaving his staff at edge of the massive magic circle.
"Reinforcements will come soon."
So, follow me.
They did without a word.
…
The town itself was being attacked but everyone was alert.
All the bone walkers lay on the outside attacking the gate.
But they couldn't get in many mages and soldiers, were shooting them down one by one from atop the gate.
Inside the town.
in the chairman's office.
The chairmen sat under his desk. Scared for his life.
"Hey commander, are you sure we are safe!"
She sighs softly "Yes. The captains have it under control, my guild is one of strongest guilds in the whole order of nobility, we are the artisans."
A woman sat at the side, her skin a luminous blue with an ethereal complexion. She had piercing clear blue eyes and sleek black hair that contrasted beautifully with her otherworldly appearance.
She wore a practical outfit of white cloth and brown leather, topped with a traditional mage's hat. Her ears came to subtle points, marking her as something more than human.
She sat to the side reading a small book, her gaze lingering on each page...
As she thinks to herself *The appearance of undead in a land such as this is so absurd, honestly I haven't been here very long I came shortly after the land had reformed but to think a necromancer could here of all places. Is very interesting to say the least but that's nothing me or my guild can't handle by ourselves…. *
A few minutes passed before a voice cut through the silence.
"HEY!"
The booming voice echoed across the area. The commander kept her eyes on her book, completely unbothered.
The chairman jumped in fear, smacking his head against the underside of his desk with a loud thud.
The commander rolled her eyes at his pathetic display.
"CAN THE COMMANDER COME OUT ALREADY?! IT'S GETTING BORING OUT HERE!"
"CAN YOU PLEASE HANDLE THIS, COMMANDER TRISH?!" he squealed, pleading desperately with her from under his desk.
She sighed heavily, slowly lowering her book and slipping it into the satchel beside her chair.
"Okay, okay. I'm heading out," she said, her voice remaining perfectly calm.
As she walked toward the door, she added, "I'm starting to get pissed off anyway."
Her soft blue eyes lit up with dangerous intent.
The chairman lay defeated under his desk, muttering weakly, "Finally..."
She vanished in an instant, leaving only a powerful gust of wind in her wake.
The necromancer was standing amongst the bodies of all 8 captains and lieutenants.
The town had also been breached completely.
People screaming.
Blood covered the ground, body parts and bits of flesh lay scattered across the field.
Corpses were littered, some stuck in the ground, some sent into buildings or structures, and some were just torn limb from limb.
Necromancer stood satisfied humming a tune happily while tapping his foot…
Waiting for his challenger.
The commander looks disgusted and surprised.
*Just a kid? And how could he? Take out 8 high end E ranks? From my guild? And be completely unscathed! *
"Hey! Finally you came, I have not, got all day you know."
Her face twisted into wretched look and veins popped on her forehead.
Only moment passed as Trish's rage builds.
"Eh… can we fight now, am getting bored with just staring at each other."
Trish's eyes filled up with blue energy.
As her mana flared around her.
"You want a fight, I will give more than that!...
Charging up powerful bolts of concentrated mana in both hands she blasts at him continuously.
The necromancer sidesteps them with his shadowy dashes.
"oh your strong!"
Then he dashes up to her face.
Trish gets shocked, stopping her assault
"wait" he says raising his finger, "let's play a game"
She fumes internally
*There is no way this murderous fiend is trying to seriously PLAY A...*
Her mana surged around her in thick waves.
"GAME!" she burst out loud
He dashed backward, but she instantly conjured a massive fireball and hurled it toward him.
"Woah, that's huge!" He braced himself behind a barrier.
As he did, the very air warped behind him. He glanced back to see her materializing, both hands raised, firing a rapid barrage of concentrated mana bolts at him.
The overwhelming assault sent him crashing directly into his own fireball.
A massive explosion erupted, the intense heat singeing the corpses scattered across the ground. Her eyes never left the blast site, still blazing with fluorescent energy.
He hit the ground hard, black smoke rising from his body. He stood up slowly, wobbling to one side with his head hanging low...
Then came. The smirk.
He dashed straight through her again, faster than before. She didn't realize what happened until she felt him phase through her body.
"As I was saying," he said casually, now positioned behind her.
She spun around, firing more concentrated mana bolts.
He kept dashing side to side, easily avoiding her attacks.
"I can't use any spell that I have. I can only use ones that you use."
*Why can't I hit him he's too fast. I will need to change my tactics! *
He zips in front of her again.
"The game starts now!"
He backs away no phantom dash. No barrier. No nothing. Only what she shows him.
They stood off.
"This kid's going to pay! I will show him how strong I truly am." With one hand she sends a large mana wave his way.
The necromancer holds his block up high. No mana
And gets pushed far back tumbling on the ground.
Then as he slowly stands up
Trish looks surprised "what why did he?"
Then she smiled "whatever I can use to my advantage!"
Then she hovers in air and starts to speed toward him at high speeds.
While flying, she takes two fingers out and compresses air at her fingertips and fires them like bullets.
The necromancer tries to get up his expression darkened as he is pelted heavily with a barrage of gale.
But he manages to push through as he stands up stumbling and now running toward Trish blood trailing his lips.
Trish quickly stops her charge and makes a wall of earth in front of her.
The necromancer sprinted forward, wind coating his outstretched hand and fusing with his crackling purple necrotic energy.
The combination turned the air itself a sickly violet hue, creating a malevolent slicing gust that hummed with deadly power.
As he lunged forward, he swiped his hand across the barrier in one fluid motion. The evil wind-blade carved straight through, slicing a massive chunk of her earthen wall cleanly in half.
Making a gap in between where the necromancer could see Trish perfectly, but she immediately backs away.
Her eyes widen in surprise *dammit didn't think he would get through. No matter! *she thinks resolutely.
Trish stretched her hand out but so did the necromancer…
A burst of embers exploded beneath him, but he retaliated instantly, dark purple flames erupting under her feet. She managed to cast a quick mana barrier around herself, but some of the soul fire slipped through before the shield fully formed, catching her wrist as she tried to back away.
She flailed her arm frantically, trying to extinguish the clinging flames. After a few desperate moments, she managed to put them out.
Her hand was left charred and scorched, the skin blackened from the necrotic fire. *Only surface burns—no soul damage thanks to my bloodline, * she thought with relief.
The chunks off earth now crumbling slowly.
Zero walks over it while stumbling, charred from top to bottom.
He walked with his arms hanging.
He lifted himself from his hunched posture and straightened himself.
*How does he keep going? Mages are not this physically tough! *
Desperate she sends out a beam of light.
From her palm
He smirks using his finger and last second before it reaches him, he sends out a ray of darkness that erases the light immediately.
Lazering a whole straight through her hand, as she holds it in pain. "AH"
Necromancer lifted his head as his face lit up smirking.
"HEH how do you like that; I call it the abyssal ray!" the necromancer remarks loudly panting heavily.
She shoves her hands to ground
"Shut it! you insufferable fiend!"
A pillar of earth raises as a jagged spire from the ground it slashes at his leg leaving a deep gash, as he dodges to the side from the rest of it.
He tumbles on the ground.
"Ack!" he squirms a bit.
She instantly fired another light beam from her charred palm as he tried to get up, it punched straight through his shoulder.
In the same moment, she conjured a water whip that lashed out and caught him, wrapping around the torso, coiling tightly as it bound him.
With her good hand, she swung him like a ragdoll—first hurling him through a cluster of buildings on one side, then whipping him around to smash through structures on the other. For good measure, she slammed him into the towering spire before finally bringing him crashing down in front of her.
As he lay stunned, another stone spike erupted from the ground, impaling him through the stomach. He coughed up blood, gasping in pain.
Using telekinesis, she lifted him off the spike and dragged his broken body forward, dropping him on his back directly at her feet.
She gazed down at him with cold mockery. "It's unbelievable that you thought playing that little game would benefit you in any way."
Three stone spikes shot up from the earth, pinning him to the ground—two through his arms and one through his chest.
Then she crossed her arms and cast a healing touch on herself. All her wounds, burns, and physical ailments disappeared as restorative energy flowed through her body.
*I handled it like I said I could chairman. Time to finish it. * she think to herself
Eyes closed in slight relief; she allowed herself a moment of rest.
The necromancer stood up maliciously, a deathly gale swirling around his bloodied hand.
"The game isn't finished just yet..."
Her eyes snapped open, instantly realizing the danger, but it was too late. He lunged at her immediately, slashing at her barrier with the wind-blade and shattering it completely.
The impact sent her stumbling backward as an even stronger gust unleashed slicing winds toward her.
How did he get back up? After all that damage!
He walked toward her steadily, the stone spikes still protruding from his body, blood streaming down as he moved with painstaking effort.
She managed to keep her footing as the piercing gale began slicing across her skin. Quickly, she dispersed the attack by flaring her mana up around herself like a shield.
*I need to make space between me and him, so I can recollect myself. *
Thinking this she flung her arm forward, shouting, "Blur!"
The necromancer's vision immediately blurred, rendering her invisible to his eyes.
Suddenly, a ground spire fused with bones of the dead erupted upward. It slashed her eye open, but she managed to back away before the entire spike could impale her.
Gaining distance, she quickly began healing herself again.
"A mirror image, huh..."
Zero walked straight through the illusory duplicate she had created spotting Trish as she finished healing her wounds.
*Huh? He knew? *
She charged up a mana bolt, but Zero casually swiped his hand, sending a wave of energy toward her.
The wave struck her directly, forcing her spirit outside her physical body.
What's happening? Why is my body over there?
The necromancer's voice cut through her confusion as he placed his hand on her physical shoulder.
"Hey there."
Bringing her back instantly.
She looked petrified
"How…"
She felt cold and sluggish
"You know something I just learned about healing magic?"
"It's that, about 10 seconds… 10 seconds is the time the healing mana lingers on the wound it was healing before it dissipates."
"This also makes the mana disposable during that time."
"So, this mana no longer just belongs to you, it belongs to anyone who wishes to command it."
She opens her eyes wide in terror
Her wounds start to appear again.
Her burnt skin.
Cuts and lacerations.
Bruises.
The hole in her hand.
The cut on her eye.
Everything starts to reappear.
The necromancer's wounds started to heal.
Every single one he received healed and closed up
The spikes also crumbled and dissipated.
"This spell I just created is called reversal touch."
"And there is one more spell that I created as soon as I saw that water whip of yours,"
Her body starts to contort and slowly expand.
"Little note, it involves blood."
she contorts even more and expands until she goes…
"Pop!"
Splattering everywhere.
Blood all over him.
Body pieces strewn across the ground zero walks over all of it.
"Well, that was a cool idea my first time taking hits like that…"
He observes himself "I could have ended this much earlier, if I just used the barrier she used or even the earth shield, but I wanted to test out, how much damage I could take before reaching my limit."
"But it seems I could push it even after all that way more durable than I originally thought haha! I am amazing!
"But I was bit surprised at first at how useless I can be without any spells at all... it was kind of…No if I had my normal power I would have dominated instantly. I would never face a foe too strong for me!"
"But overall, I think this test of my power has been good."
Suddenly, Zero's expression turned deadly serious.
Something rustled in the rubble nearby.
"Come on out now. You've caused quite the ruckus."
Silence.
Then suddenly, a figure was yanked from the debris by Zero's telekinetic grip, pulled directly in front of him.
Zero held him suspended in the air with his power, fixing him with an intensely cold glare before dropping him hard to the ground.
"Hey, I'm sorry!"
"I didn't mean—"
"I don't care about your reasons." Zero's voice was ice cold. "Tell me, what was our vow?"
Zero raised his hand, his eyes shimmering purple as the village burned around them. Wind whipped through his hair.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Um... um..."
"It's the vow of obedience." Zero answered
The outline of a transparent, pulsing purple heart appeared in Zero's palm.
"Is that my...?!"
Zero slowly began to close his fist. The man squirmed in agony as his heart was compressed.
"What was our vow?" Zero pressed, his voice deadly calm.
"Okay, okay! It was to keep everything a secret!"
"And what was my side of it?" zero pressed again.
"That you wouldn't hurt me."
"And what do you think is going to stop me now that the vow is broken?" zero pressed even futher
"Wa... wait!"
No remorse. No hesitation.
Zero crushed his fist closed, obliterating the transparent heart. The man dropped dead instantly, blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
"I don't need people like you around."
He turned to the side, holding his arm out. His staff flew to his hand.
"Well, I guess now I should just wait for reinforcements."
But in that moment, a massive army of 2,000 undead came charging into the village, with the spirit carrying Drogna on its back.
As they approached, the spirit gently transferred Drogna to Zero. She climbed onto his back, and he felt her familiar weight.
"Hey, spirit. Deal with this town. The lead drogger here will guide you to our meeting point, so finish up here and head there."
He drew a magic circle beneath his feet and teleported away.