Master Of None

The second the translucent leaves and stems were seen softly swaying in the water Undead King stopped. It was clear that it was lost in thought. "You must spread these seeds as far as possible. Bring them back to the world. If you can manage this I will promise to spare your kingdom when I inevitably escape our self made prison. We will bring the undead swarm and consume that worthless experiment. Our new city shall rise." The lines on the skeleton that had been wrapped around it started to fade and the skeleton's decomposition accelerated. 

"You have impressed us, such young beings have done something we were unable to do in our dead land. Do not disappoint me." The skeleton turned to dust fully and drifted to the spirit lily in the pond. The dust dissolved in to the water and the lily seemed to glow with a spiritual light. There was a profound aura coming from it. 

Once the light faded the spirit lily looked much more sure in it's foundation. There was a feeling that it could burst in to growth at any moment. The party all released a breath at the same time. The nerves they had felt were intense. "I forgot about that quest...It feels like it has been years.." Remey was pale and had small beads of sweat on her forehead. 

"So did I, who thought that it would come here…" Su was equally pale after the visit; that was a reward for the quest they had received when Walker obtained the seeds from Immortal King.

"You five are going to take some time to explain why a coffin just popped out of the garden and opened up to a skeleton that said it would send a swarm of undead here if it was unhappy; right?" Gil's mother had regained her voice and was understandably shaken. 

"Well apparently the lich that lived in the ancient ruins can send its consciousness outside for a short time...It is news to us as well. We even forgot the quest showed up after it gave us these seeds." Walker tried to be a little positive but the entire situation was unprecedented. 

"Guys...do we need to report this?" Gil spoke up finally, the tiredness in his voice seeping out. This encounter had been enough to push him to his limit and he was ready to sleep in the lawn if he needed to. 

"I don't think any good will come from telling anyone that an ancient lich just showed up to visit our garden. Plus...it said it had no power in that form." Walker could only see the chaos that would come from telling someone about what had just happened. 

Midnight had finally relaxed and stopped her growling, but she was still very unsettled. It would take all day for her to come out of her stressed situation. From her shadow a familiar serpent started to slither, Onyx had refused to budge an inch when the presence of Immortal King had shown itself. "Brother, I hope that you never invite this guest again. I could barely move through the shadows." Onyx had felt trapped the second the aura hit him. His ability to move was suffocated. 

"If he comes again I don't think we could say no…" Walker looked at everyone to see that they had no arguments. The general consensus was not to let anyone else know of this. "I think this is a good enough time to end the day...We can start in on some things tomorrow." There were nods and yeses from everyone as they headed inside to wait for dinner and get some sleep to reset after the strange visit from Immortal King. 

Not a single member of the party escaped the troubled dreams of the catacombs while they slept. Even Gil's mother had strange dreams of skeletal flours popping out of her garden in place of everything she tried to grow. Having the sunlight come in to their rooms to wake them was a breath of fresh air for sure. 

Walker hopped out of bed pushing the dreams to the back of his mind and decided that he would head out early to grab some of the elemental crystals Gil would like to use for his arrows. It was interesting to think on what the effects of the different crystals could be. Between water and fire all Walker could imagine were bursts of each element. The earth elemental crystals he would be looking for would be the first time he would have them. They would be new to him along with any air elemental crystals. 

The thing about the air elemental crystals were that they were the same element that Gil's bow could naturally make arrows out of. So would they become stronger or would they be useless because they would have the same result? While he pondered these things the streets and buildings passed him by, he was soon standing in front of the forge which seemed to be more or less silent in the early hours. 

He was not surprised to see a familiar face drowsing at the counter. "Good morning Rodney. Looking busy as always." The boy jumped a little at the sudden voice he had not expected to show up. 

"Walker, welcome. It is just opening now. We haven't really started any work since we try to keep certain hours quiet for the surrounding neighbors." This was a long known agreement with the forge due to the sleepless nights that the neighbors always experienced during the busiest of merchant seasons. 

"Well I am not here to cause any noise, just wondering what you have for elemental mana crystals today. I am mainly looking for earth and wind elements. I will also take more light and dark. Water and fire can wait if you do not have many." 

"You are lucky indeed. We have a large shipment of many crystals from the mines up north just last night. They brought a lot of different crystals that we are still separating in the back. We can do a packaged deal if you want a hundred of every single type?' Rodney had been really coming in to his own. The time at the counter dealing with customers was turning him in to a faux merchant. This deal was large but since Walker definitely had the money Rodney offered it to him. 

Walker could not help but rebuttal since Rodney seemed so optimistic in his role after being found nearly Asleep at the desk. "Make it one hundred and fifty of each crystal and I will spare you the task of delivery." He smiled knowing that this was something that could save them a lot of time. Delivery was usually the most tiresome part of the forging process because sometimes the crafted items were too unwieldy to just carry home, especially if they were a gift or new sets of armor. Therefore the forge would hire an adventure to deliver them or personally need to deliver them. 

"You got it." Rodney ducked behind the counter and in to a back room where a lot of shuffling and voices could be heard. The order took a decent amount of time to be put together since the shipment had just come in but Walker did not mind. He had been thinking about what he would do when he returned. He couldn't say he was interested in what Gil's new skill looked like but if he got too caught up in it he would end up learning how to make arrows infused with elements. This was not a skill he was in dire need for. Instead he was much more in need of the water magic which could deal with the more dangerous monsters in the deep sun hollow forest. 

A few buff men came out from the back and placed crates down containing all the elemental mana crystals that Rodney had just asked for. They recognized Walker from his visits prior and also from him running around the lower tier before he got his system. They were pretty excited to see him store away the crystals and pay for them since it was all the more motivation to work harder. They were seeing someone who had lived in the same place as them rise up to the higher tier with the nobles. He even lived in a mansion now.

"Come visit again!" Rodney yelled after him as Walker headed out the door. The only thing now on his mind was what water magic he should try and learn. As he wandered home while his thoughts continuously fell on to some form of Ice. This was mainly because he could use it to restrain a target. On top of that it would hit hard physically. The only problem was that ice could take him time to form due to the changing season. He would be better off learning to make some form of easily maneuverable spell with water alone. 

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