Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 71

Mortimer was annoyed. He was fairly certain that he’d just wasted a lot of time only to fail a quest. Which was odd, because the answer to the riddle had seemed correct, but he’d been killed anyway. It was also unfortunate that the quest could not be retried, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wondered if there had even been another solution to the riddle that would have worked. All he’d seen were bones. Enough to make a complete skeleton, if they’d all been for the same size and type of creature..

Maybe he’d been supposed to think outside the box, and take out something that wasn’t there. Theoretically, brain was also a correct solution to the riddle, but there hadn’t been one in the box. It didn’t look like it had been there and decayed, either. That would have been very sloppy necromancer work, if it was. If he’d been supposed to remove his own brain… well, now it was too late to try. Besides, that didn’t feel right.

Still confused, he re-entered the game once he could.

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Quietus looked around. Well, he hadn’t been kicked out of the dungeon. That said… something. Upon opening his quest window, it also didn’t show failure. However, it also didn’t show any progress. He looked around. He no longer had the skull, and was also in a different corridor. Maybe it was a best two out of three? That sounded… stupid. He highly doubted that was true. Well, there was another riddle, and another series of sarcophagi full of mismatched bones. He might as well go with the thought that he’d succeeded. If not, he’d only die a couple more times before determining he wasn’t going to beat the quest. It was worth the risk considering the work he’d already put towards this quest.

I am a prison. However, instead of protecting the world from what I contain, I protect what I contain from the world.

The answer to this one didn’t seem to have any solution but an obvious one, given the choices available. Since he’d already failed or was on the right track, Quietus just decided to assume he was right. He took the only ribcage- similarly proportioned to the skull from earlier, and stepped into the corridor.

You have died!

Cannot log in for 12 hours 30 minutes.

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When he logged back in the next day, he was in the final corridor. He assumed he was doing the right thing, then, since there was a sense of progress, and no indication of him having failed the quest yet.

Quietus frankly didn’t care what the third riddle was. He gathered the remaining bones that matched the skeleton he seemed to be putting together. Arms and legs, including hands and feet. This was the most awkward to carry, since there were so many little pieces. Then, he stepped into the corridor towards the middle sarcophagus again.

You have died!

Cannot log in for 12 hours 30 minutes.

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Quietus was getting very annoyed. Not that he was lacking progress on his quest, but rather at the rate that the Power to Accept Death was leveling. Quite frankly, it had gotten very slow. He’d died four times without it leveling, and it was only intermediate. There were more than thirty more levels to gain. He needed to find more necromancer related quests, and specifically ones that affected that skill. He’d gained some experience from repairing undead, previously, but only for quests. Maybe this quest would contribute some as well.

He looked around. Well, it sure seemed like the quest was going the right direction. He was now in the middle of the area, with the large sarcophagus. He walked up and looked inside, half expecting to see the remains of Aullet. What he saw, however, made more sense. Aullet should have been destroyed in a gigantic, climactic battle. There was no way his remains wouldn’t have been purified and destroyed. Instead, the sarcophagus had the pieces of the skeleton he’d been collecting. The first true sign of progress. Well, the floating image that appeared helped.

On the other side of the sarcophagus, a floating, translucent image of someone rather necromancery, presumably Aullet, appeared. Given its looks, it could have been taken for a ghost, but Quietus knew it wasn’t. He made a side note to figure out how to turn into a ghost. Then, he listened to what the image said.

“Congratulations! You made it this far, so you certainly have the potential to learn my technique. However, I require the answer to a proper question, and not a simple riddle. As you are aware, failure leads to death. Where, then, does success lead?”

Quietus’ first thought was “life”. His next thought was silly, but going by his quest journal, the answer was sort of ??? (Aullet’s legacy). That one he only considered as a joke. However, based on what he had experienced in this dungeon, life wasn’t the answer. After all, he’d correctly answered the “riddles”. Failure lead to death, but he had still died. Thus, the only correct answer, at least for a necromancer was…

“Failure leads to death. Success leads to… death!”

The image smiled. “Correct. All necromancers must know that, inevitably, everything ends in death. It can be struggled against for a time, even centuries or more, but eventually, all ends in death. Remember that, and you will do well. Now then. My ultimate technique is actually rather simple. In fact, if you have followed my legacies path, then you should already have an idea of the technique.

Quest has been updated!

Either:

Perform Aullet’s technique to create the destroyer skeleton: Bonus rewards will be granted.

or

Ask Aullet how to perform the technique: Rewarded with the method to make the destroyer-type undead.

Quietus pondered. He certainly would have remembered if he’d seen the technique written down, indeed, he should have already gained it as a skill if that were the case. Yet, it was possible for him to have already learned how. Since there didn’t seem to be a time limit on his choice, Quietus thought back over the quest. Nothing seemed to come up, until he got back to the very beginning.

There had been an inscription… it was…

Rise, my creation, warrior of renown, for an army too great to number knocks at our door.

Rise, my creation, slayer of men, protect those whom you have wronged

Awaken, my friend, to defeat those who I cannot

Awaken, my friend, he who bears my soul

Now that he actually had spells that used chants, he actually felt that it felt somewhat like that was a chant. However, it was very situational, and felt incomplete. After all, he wasn’t facing an army at this time. The last part, though… definitely seemed right.

Quietus was in the habit of having soul bind on himself constantly, especially in this dungeon. He checked to make sure it was on, just in case. It was, of course. Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. Could it?

“Awaken, my friend, he who bears my soul! Soul Transfer!”

Soul transfer, of course, required a soul to be taken from something. There were no monsters around, and the image of Aullet definitely didn’t have a soul. However, Quietus had realized there was one more thing with a soul that he hadn’t previously considered. He wasn’t sure why.

You have died!

Cannot log in for 12 hours 30 minutes.

End Chapter 71