Master Of None

Chapter 2022  2022. Grudging Acceptance

"I didn't know that undead could dream. If you think we will let you out of your self made prison then you are dumber than you look." Remey 's comment following up what Walker had said brought another thrum of mana to shake the tower. Small pieces of stone seemed to fall where the tower stones had begun to crumble due to time. But almost as if being controlled by an outside force, the mana moving through the tower forced the stone back together. This was just a part of the mysterious way that the elder lich had been trapped here. Even he didn't understand it. "I will get whatever I need eventually. You can not stop it. But you have no choice to help me." the immortal king spoke with a clear tone of mocking. He knew that the party did not like anything about this. Through the eyes of his undead, he had seen a lot. He had strived to break through the barriers that he could not overcome. Especially the fact that he could not leave this place. That he had limited undead that he could send in to the world and show him what was happening. The party had already seen one undead that came to look at the unique plants they had grown. Some that were from when he was still alive. That had been one moment and a clear explanation had been given form the immortal king himself. He had said that he could only send an undead that far and see things like that maybe three times. That was something that made the party feel that even a powerful elder lich was extremely controlled and limited due to his position. Yet, here they were. The immortal king had said he witnessed many things that the party had done. He had seen them through the undead that he sent out. Therefore, this was one obstacle he had broken through already. He could send multiple undead in to the world to be able to see, hear, and somewhat experience what was going on. But that also brought another thing to Walker's mind. "You can't even let yourself see things properly through the undead you tried so hard to send out of here. Can you? The corrupted mana is getting that bad and you also want to escape it?" Just escaping this prison was not what the immortal king wanted. He wanted to avoid whatever wa happening with the corrupted manas that were too chaotic to control. They ruined the connections between him and the undead. Hence why he might have them all standing still and not moving. It was too hard to maintain perfect control over all of them at all times right now without using too much mana. "Oh, so you did get smarter. If you had a few more decades, you might realize that I will not frown at ending you all here and making you my undead as well. That way, I can gather whatever information your bodies hold. Unique hybrid zombies as well. It might be more entertaining." The immortal king's threats came with even more skeletal hands reaching from the shadows. He was still showing off the powers he had over the entire tower. "Then what can you tell us about the vampires that are in that castle and ruins. They were sealed there by someone somehow. But they can't be freed. They can't share whatever knowledge that they have with the demon king or else you know what will happen. Regardless of leaving this plane or not." Walker did not play any more. He was disgusted as well as the immortal king was with them. There was no middle ground for them. They would always be on opposing sides of everything there was to be. It was just how it would be due to the gruesome evils that the immortal king had done. "You will provide me with death spirits or death mana items. Or you will give me the natural mana condensed to allow me more time to experiment." The payment that the immortal king wanted was not just items related to death. Yes, there were items that would always hold death mana. There were plenty of cemeteries that had stones that had ominous energies around them. Now that Walker was more clarified on manas and what might be, he could guess why these places always felt a certain way. It wasn't within people's heads, it was the death mana there. Walker would never send a spirit race to here. To a being that he was certain would use and abuse them as tools. This was off the table. Completely. Especially since Walker had managed to meet a death spirit before and had the feeling that the spirit would always be somewhere around. Watching him since it was clearly thankful that it had been awakened properly. But it was a mystery within itself. But natural mana? He could provide that easily. He had the ability to bring manas together to make natural mana. The only issues were what the immortal king would do with it. Too many things could go wrong. Everyone knew the potential that came with using natural mana to boost attacks and other skills. Walker had already shown that he could also allow areas to grow and become almost like knew. If the immortal king had seen these things, he could be trying to use a skill that would free him from this place or generally allow him to send an army of undead elsewhere. I can provide you with some natural mana. The spirit race is a living race and they will not be used as tools for you. I will not allow you to do that to anyone." Walker stood firmly even though the immortal king loomed over them. "That is acceptable. I have multiple mana gems created with the same means that you used to create your little toy there. But I had them simplified to only store natural mana for a temporary time period." the immortal king dropped three large mana gems in front of the party. "Brother, how can he do that?" Onyx spoke within Walker's mind. His confusion clear since the immortal king could not be a blacksmith of any sorts with his form and mana affinities. "Undead that he controls. I would be willing to bet he has undead with skills and methods for such things. It's why he is more dangerous than we realize." this response to Onyx was correct. The rest of the party had also realized it. The immortal king could have undead blacksmiths that retained some skills. Enough to make a mana gem capable of holding natural mana and not just one mana. It was hard to accept since it was a greater threat with more levels than what they all expected. "Share what you know too." Walker picked a mana gem up and felt that he could easily add natural mana. But he did not start until he saw the books that the immortal king was dropping. Two books had pictures. Diagrams that depicted different species of vampires. Some of the race that had once walked the earth as a recognized and controlled intelligent race. The others, the monsters that they became when they lost their intelligence or when they controlled others to become mothers. Vampire thralls, rabid vampires, bestial vampires, and many more were depicted. All important pieces of information that the party could use when they were fighting these enemies. That they could share with the joint Genesis and angel forces when they were about to go to battle. Things that would keep them all alive. "Many races failed to document the true terrors that they are capable of. They could use their charm skills to make you kill your own family. Then you would thank them for it before you offer your own life blood to them. They are not just simple creatures." the immortal king didn't sound evil at this moment. Almost hurt. "Cutting them apart is a temporary measure to slow them. But you can read how to erase their false immortality. That last one, is how they ended up there. You may believe you have discovered the Sigil continent. But my people had traveled there when we were gathering the most important items." immortal king began to sound scarier. If his people had traveled the world, they would have been stronger than what the party originally believed. Yet, they had still ended up with only one city. With only one survivor. With only one who remembered the past. And even that might end if the party could get strong enough to defeat him. "Look through it as your leader gives me the mana as payment. You can learn from it, but you will not leave until I have full payment." The threat came with another vibration of mana. But this time, there was a clicking sound from outside the windows. Undead had started to move again. Making a pathway out of the ruins which could easily be closed. …

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