The sunlight greeted Kai as he stepped beyond the forest’s borders, illuminating his figure in golden warmth. His hair, now long and almost reaching his waist, shimred in the daylight. His fur boots crunched against the forest’s edge, the weight of his ti inside weighing on him.
His clothes, long since gotten too small for him and beca rags, were replaced with clothes that Vepice fashioned for him from wolf and deer hides.
"Finally."
Kai looked at his hands and curled them into tight fists.
[Na: Kai Tensen |
Age: 8 Years |
Specialisation: Necromancer |
Rank: 9 |
Awakening Requirents: Unknown |
Life Essence Stored: 5,500/5,500 |
Mortality Deviance: Minimal |
Souls Bound: 8 (Winfried Drummond, Angelica Trunsdale, Troy Saren, Naless Guards (2), Naless Inquisitors (3)) |
Undead Army: 21 (Joran, Rhea, Finn, rri, Child (9), Voltis, Ignis, Zephyr, Tectonis, Arcane Wolf (4) |
Tethered Souls: 0 |
Languages Translated: Irian |
Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Tempering, Mana Sense, Shadow Manipulation (Advanced), Strengthening Magic (Moderate), Elental Magic (Minor), Combat Arts (Interdiate), Shadowld, Precision Targeting (Magic), Death Sense, Murmurs of the Departed, Shadow Decoy, Sigilcraft (Fortification, Elental), Aura of Undead, Soul-Vault |
Spellcasting: Novice |
Spells: Raise Undead (Moderate), Thrall Control, Shadow Conjuring, Bull’s Strength, Frozen Touch (Contact), Frozen Zone (Area), Icicle Javelins (Ranged), Searing Touch (Contact), Wall of Fla (Moderate), Wither, Gravebound, Wall of Ice (Moderate), Mass Raise Undead (Lesser), Tether the Fallen, Ice Prison (Minor), Shadow Weapons, Flathrower, Tempered Shadows, Shadow Space, Speed Sigil (Lightning), Power Sigil (Fire), Aura Sigil (Ice), Undead Maintenance, Tartarus’ Grasp]
Kai’s gaze hardened. He had co a long way since that night, three years ago, when his fate had been decided for him. Ylthara had stolen his friends and childhood, forcing him into the depths of suffering, but he had survived. He had grown.
Still, there was unfinished business. Hunter had escaped him before, but that would not last forever. If the man was still alive, Kai would find him again. He would make certain that every mont of suffering he endured would be repaid in full.
A breeze swept through the trees, rustling the branches in quiet whispers. He looked back toward the endless expanse of the forest, a place that had beco both his prison and his crucible. For three years, he had trained, fought, and honed his power within its depths.
Three years.
His body was eight now, though he hardly felt like a child anymore. He knew that he never had, though. At least not in this world. Without the system’s notifications, he might have lost track of ti altogether. He had known when he turned six. He had known when he turned seven. And just last month, he had turned eight.
The real change ca from his strength gained over three years. For an eight-year-old, he was thin but muscular, and a little taller than an average child of his age.
Kai glanced over his shoulder, his thoughts lingering on the almost-silent figure who had given him shelter when he needed it most.
"Three years and you still hardly talked to . Vepice... I’ll co back and thank you. One day."
Before heading ho, Kai had one stop on the way and a couple of things to pick up.
---
Kai snuck inside the city of Ylthara at night, alongside a caravan of rchants. He moved through the city with a clear goal in mind.
The slums.
Once there, he found charred bedding and remnants of the fight from three years ago.
He moved through the filth-ridden alleyways with grace. He had no intention of lingering, but there was one matter he needed to tend to before departing the city for good.
Down several twists and turns, he found a large grate in the ground, and lifted it with Shade’s help. He jumped down into the sewer and covered his nose with a cloth.
’You’d think being around undead animals all day or Vepice’s dicine would prepare for this, but humans are gross...’
He watched as a log of human feces drifted down the central canal.
The sewers beneath Ylthara were just as he had left them.
Damp.
Dark.
Reeking of decay.
Yet, the familiar presence of his friends stirred within the shadows, awaiting his return.
Kai teared up. The sight before him seed unbelievable.
Joran pushed his hands against a wall as if it were an enemy.
rri dipped her feet in the sewerage as if it were a crystal clear river.
Finn moaned and groaned amongst several of the undead children
Rhea, however, as she used to, watched them all from a distance.
"You guys... So of your old selves are still in there?" Kai smiled weakly.
He looked at their bodies with concern.
Their forms, although they resembled his friends, were mostly twisted and motionless. They lined the tunnels like statues of death. Even in decay, they persisted.
The flesh fell from their bodies, so covered in maggots and a couple had rats clinging to them
Kai extended his hand, channeling his necromantic energy.
"This should work well enough..."
’Maintenance!’
Mana swirled around him as he cast a spell. The green hue of his magic weaved through the undead like threads nding a torn piece of clothing. Bones snapped back into place, rotting flesh re-knit itself, and the dull glows of lifeless eyes reignited with dark energy.
When the last of his friends were repaired until their first monts of reanimation once more, he closed his fist, pulling them all into his Shadow Space. The darkness absorbed them, swallowing them whole until the tunnels were empty once more.
His work in Ylthara was finished. For now, at least.
Kai ascended from the depths.
Kai focused on his presence until it disappeared completely. His Master Concealnt skill assisted him dozens of tis in the forest.
Kai vanished into the crowd and weaved through the city unnoticed. He slipped past guards, knights, priests, and townsfolk. He spotted a familiar face. One of the last friendly ones before his assessnt.
’Broderick...’
The inquisitor who comforted or threatened him before being assessed.
A fire burned within him, and his concealnt broke for a mont.
’Fuck. As refined as this skill is, it’s shit that it fails if I think or act with hostility.’
He earned that lesson before when an iron bear almost killed him with a single swipe. A stray thought, a mont of anger, and his presence reappeared before the bear. If it wasn’t for him summoning Tecton from the shadow space, he would have been broken apart.
So he remained calm. Focused. Empty.
Broderick walked towards his direction and closed in quickly, like a bloodhound following soone’s scent.
Kai’s presence faded once again.
Broderick walked right by him, completely unaware.
Once Kai reached the city’s southern gates, he exhaled softly and passed through unnoticed with a singular wandering trader and a bodyguard, his body a whisper against the wind as he headed south.
’Ho awaits. I wonder if they’ll recognise . I have changed a lot.’
Kai touched his hair and smiled.
’I get to see them all again.’
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