Standing at the top of my ziggurat, surrounded by my guild mbers and NPCs whod joined our cause, we basked in the city smoldering below. This ziggurat had once been a temple to a god, and now it was ours.
The battle to take the city had proven fierce. Hordes of zombies and skeletons battered the walls. And as the fortifications fell, my army surged, sweeping over the city like a wave of death, killing all who got in its way.
Our attack was swift and brutal, wiping out the lesser cities before they even stood a chance.
That city was the last bastion of resistance against our armiesa nation of priests crumbling before us. The temple was defiled, turned to our own purposes, and the vessel ticulously prepared. The city itself had beco bloated with the death energy of all of those slain. Now at the heart of our new undead nation, everything had been arranged for my final step.
With a brief effort of will, my blade-staff transford back into a regular staff, and the blade humming with death magic vanished. This weapon was bound to . A scaling weapon I found long ago that had grown in power with . Now well past my second soul compression, the weapon was nigh unstoppable, and those who felt my blade would rise to serve . Dare I say, I was a one-man army.
Are you ready, my lord? Vito asked, his strong voice drawing my attention away from the city below.
The vampire stood near the center of the ziggurat. Around him were the other NPCs who would be performing the ritual. Notably, there were no players involved. While my guild helped reach this point, I didnt trust any of them. Theyd done so thinking it would be fun to create a nation of undeath.
We were all here for the sa reasons; mostly to blow off steam. If that ant stabbing your friends in the back, people would not hesitate. Vito and the NPCs with him were my own personal retainers, and all had sworn undying loyalty to .
Yes, I think I am. It would be a sha to waste all this potent magic.
All of you, leave, Vito snapped at the loitering players.
While my guildmates might be technically stronger, my loyal servants were still powerful. Good-natured grumblings and mutterings abounded, but they understood.
As Vito made sure the last of the players left, I made my way to the center of the ziggurat where the altar waited. On the altar sat a black vase covered in gold runes, a gem containing a powerful soul, and a dagger made of obsidian, laced with glowing purple runes. Standing before the altar, I took deep breaths to calm my nerves, reminding myself this was just a ga. Sotis it felt so real, it beca easy to forget that.
Let us begin, I said.
Vito wordlessly helped out of my battle robes, and I laid down on the altar next to the items. Projecting the spell into the world above, a spell diagram written in purple magic appeared rotating before . So of my retainers began to chant, pouring their own magic in. When the diagram swelled until it spread over the whole ziggurat, it began drawing magic from the city. The death magic swirled overhead, its growing power palpable.
When the spell reached its peak, Vitos training took over. With an effort of will, I managed to push a sliver of my soul up into the diagram. My part was done. All I had to do was hold his concentration.
Vito approached out of the corner of my eye. He picked up the soul gem and the dagger. There was a crack as he drove the dagger into the gem, the weapon soaking in the pure, blue energy, and he t my gaze.
I bade him continue with a sharp nod, then braced myself for what would co next. This was the hardest part. There ca a sharp pain as he used the knife now glowing with the etheric blue soul energy to cut into my chest. I used the pain to focus my will, driving my soul deeper into the magic. Vito worked diligently, removing organs and placing them into the jar. As he did, death magic from the spell above trickled into my body.
And the pain seed to go on forever.
Once Vito was done, the burning pain in my chest faded as the death magic was restored. My sight was fuzzy. There was a flash of blue energyVito using the soul blade to cut the tether of my soul connecting to the diagram. Leaving that piece Id pushed into the spell behind. Suddenly, the strain of holding my sliver of a soul in the spell was gone and I relaxed. The hard part was done.
Vito set the vase containing my heart, lungs, and stomach onto my chest. The chanting increased and the spell diagram above began to spin. The diagram funneled the death magic of the entire city into a cyclone that descended to the vase, then traveled into .
The magic created dark replications of my organs.
My heart was now a source of great death magic. It no longer beat, but pulsed with magic, and my lungs swelled with that sa eminence. My stomach beca a pit of death that would fuel my body. Those three organs worked in tandem, changing .
The magic finished channelling into my body, and I sat up. I felt better than ever and marveled at the phylactery in my hands.
The golden runes glowed subtly with purple magic, sealed at the top by an impenetrable blackness that swallowed the light. I stood and stretched, inspecting my arms and how the magic changed them. The change was subtle. They had degraded, only to grow back reinforced by the death magic that now fueled .
Eagerly, I opened my character sheet and examined my trait list.
Character traits
Magically gifted:
You learn magic faster.
Lichdom:
Enhanced magical senses
Undead resilience
Innate undeath control
Mindless undead creatures are more easily controlled.
Body of death
Necromantic and death magic co to you innately, you have enhanced skill with dark magic.
You have a high resistance to necromantic and death magic, and an enhanced resistance to dark magic.
Soul magic
You have access to soul magic.
Phylactery
If you are slain, you will reincarnate at your phylactery.
As a bound soul, this serves as a secondary respawn point.
Poison immunity
You are immune to all poisons, except for those with a life aspect to them.
Undead strength
Your body is now fueled by death magic. As the power of your core grows, so does your body.
True Undead
The undead have no need for strength or stamina any more. They are now fueled by death energy. Those stats have been replaced with the death core.
The death core cannot be increased by stat points, it only increases with level and by absorbing death energy.
Along with replacing strength and endurance, the death core also provides an increased potency for death-based spells. However, it prevents the use of all light and life magic.
Obviously, the phylacterys ability to bring back was of less importance than it would be for an NPC. Still, the other benefits of being a Lich were great.
How are you feeling, milord? Vito asked.
Fine, I think, I answered cautiously, studying my phylactery with rapt fascination.
It was a strange feeling. Part of myself was in there, and felt more real than anything else Id ever experienced in this ga. With a smile, I swung my legs over the edge of the altar and stood.
A beeping started going off in my head.
Dammit I need to go, Vito. Take care of my body like you normally do.
Of course, milord. Vito bowed. Until next ti. I will take your phylactery to the place we discussed and make sure no one else knows where it is.
Thank you, Vito, I said, opening the ga nu.
***
The inside of my visor replaced the scene of death and magic. I let out a long-suffering sigh as I checked the clockit was ti for work.
With the ti compression of WOM, World of Magic, I was able to get a little bit of ga ti in before work each day. The attack on that city had been mid-progress when I got on, and the eight or so hours of gaplay allowed to finish my quest.
I took my visor off, slipped on oil-stained clothes and thick boots, then stumbled out of my room, heading for the front door. I drove to work with a smile, already excited to get ho and play around with being a Lich.
Like normal, I was one of the first at the shop. That didnt bug , most of the people I worked with were jerks, and I was happier by myself. Admittedly that was a little odd for since I was quite social. That place was just the most toxic workplace I had ever had the displeasure of being a part of.
My daily routine consisted of powering up machines, one after another, followed by tests to ensure everything was functional and working correctly.
As I worked, the rest of my team trickled in for our early shift. Everyone started off quietthough the insults and swearing didnt take long to start. It was often good-natured, just wearing.
If you couldnt tell, I hated that job and that place. Would have left long before then if that were possible. Between the economic downturns in North Arica from the formation of the North Arican Union and their subsequent leaving from the world economy, I was lucky to have a job. There were lots of people without.
That didnt make being there any better. Probably the worst part was the boredom. Now, Im not college-educated or anything. Never had the chance to be. But Im bright and always looking for a challenge. Sothing that place never offered. And searching for new work was mostly hopeless. Everyone had been looking.
College was once in my radar. Would have gone too, if the economy hadnt fallen apart when it did.
I was living with my older sister, Jessica, my only living relative. For a while, actually. Our combined incos barely kept us afloat, so neither of us had the luxury to quit jobs we disliked. Well, for anyway. My sister loved her job, she worked as a banker. She thrived in the financial aspects and challenges it provided.
The only thing that really got through a day was the ability to blow off stress after a long day at work in WOM. My routine beca pretty basic: wake up, eat food, play so, go to work, co ho, get dinner, and go back in WOM. Luckily, I was physically active enough at my job to maintain this, despite it not being much of a life.
Exceptions from this routine were when I hung out with my sister. We often got out of the house and did fun things, be it minigolf or board gas. But shed gotten so busy, and her job kept her late. It also hadnt helped she was a workaholic.
Once I slipped in my earbuds, flipping on my favorite ga comntators, the day would just fade to a blur. The comntators did an excellent job bringing their characters stories to life and never failed to make my days pass far more quickly. Loxs story was one of the main series I followed, and at the ti had been spouting so rather interesting theories surrounding WOM. Id mostly been excited to see what his crew would end up doing for their series end. Accomplishing their goals seed almost hopeless. Still, they had yet to fail, so I kept the faith.
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