章 14: The Holy Light and How to Swing it: Undead Edition
Jack made his way down the bony corridors, and by memory, he made it to the door to his study. He paused for a moment and walked straight into the door. This time he was prepared, so he didn't fall flat on his skull this time. As he crossed the threshold, he felt like he was pushing through a wall of pudding, a sort of thick resistance.
Walking back into the room, it was much dimmer than the last time he had been here. Jack could still make out the tables, that were set up by the former Holy Witch King. He could even make out the large bookshelves behind the tables that contained so many unknown tomes.
[Where to start... hmmmmmm?] Jack stood there and mulled over what he wanted to do.
[Let us see... I need to get stronger, I need to find some information on what a Boneyard is used for, and information on the Countries.] Jack was organizing his thoughts. [Let's get the learning out of the way.]
Jack walked around each table, reading the labels. Cultivation, The History of the Undead, The History of the Holy Deagoth Kingdom, The last Lich King, the... What? The last Lich King?
Jack walked over to the table labeled "The last Lich King," and found that only a single golden tome was on top of the table. He picked up the Tome and thought about absorbing it. After a few failed attempts, he had an empty feeling each time he tried. Jack could only figure that he didn't have enough power to absorb it. He shook his head and flipped open the book to skim the pages.
The last Lich King was the supreme ruler of all the Undead Races. At the time of the writing of this tome, he existed over ten thousand years ago. [Why is everything that's old is in increments of ten thousands?] Jack retorted in his mind, as he continued to skim.
The last Lich King, after consolidating his power base, declared war on the Overworld. No one was sure how long it lasted but at the end of the war the last Lich King and the supposed Heroes of the Overworld slew each other in a climactic battle. [Really... How cliché... Let's keep going...]
Jack wanted to know what the Lich King's power was that made him become the overlord of the undead. He scanned over the tome. [Various battles, Ruling policy, Union of the Underworld, etc... etc... Ah! Here it is.] The Last Lich King had the ability to command undead against their will, even to the point they would sacrifice themselves for the cause of the Lich King. The last Lich King also had the ability to raise undead on the battlefield, in the mists of battle, usually overrunning their living counterparts.
[So a game boss... Ok... I was expecting... A bit more...] Jack sighed inwardly. He knew this was an awesome power, but he felt it was a scary power. He wouldn't want a Lich King to suddenly rise and subjugate him, striping him of his free will.
Jack shuddered.
[Hmmmm... Says here that he cultivated Ice type magics... Wait... The Lich King!] Jack just hung his head... He didn't understand, how The Lich King made it to this world... [Wait... Was the Lich King here, and someone reincarnated to take his story back to make a game?!] This idea struck Jack, just right. It wasn't impossible. After thinking about this for a while, Jack threw this idea to the back of his mind, along with The Lich King. He couldn't be The Lich King, no matter how much he liked him. Jack had his own path. Let along, he didn't want to force someone's free will. In Jack's opinion, it was better to kill your enemy than to force them against their will, then again it wasn't out of the question to humiliate or intimidate his enemy either, to make an example out of them.
Jack tossed the book back on top of the Table, and just as he was about to walk away from the table, he found a note. He picked it up and read, "We must never be like The Last Lich King." Jack held the note for a moment, thinking. [Maybe becoming The NEW Lich King wasn't such a bad idea.] After all, Jack didn't know how to roleplay a good guy. [An iron fist is it?]
Jack tossed the note aside, completely disregarding the warning. He then proceeded to the table labeled "History of the Ruined Continent." [Well isn't this a swell name...] Based on this name, Jack had zero expectations about the place he lived.
Reading through the tome, Jack found that the Continent had been stripped by the armies of the last Lich King during the end of his reign, and this was the reason it was named the Ruined Continent. Still, it spoke of the kingdoms that rose and fell since the fall of the Lich King.
Time passed, and finally, Jack completed the tome. [That was the most boring book I have ever read... If I wasn't dead, I would die of boredom.] Jack chuckled at his own dark humor. He was a dimwit, too used to entertaining himself.
After looking over many of the tables, Jack settled on a table labeled "Imports and Exports of The Holy Kingdom of Deagoth." He figured this would have information on Boneyards, and why these were so important. Jack picked up the tome and skimmed it.
The tome detailed many key resources of the undead. Flax crops for linen, Glowstone for light and money, various plants and exotic animals for vegetables and meat for zombie undead, and Holy Bone building material were all key exports of the kingdom. Glowstone? Jack remembered the pearl-like stones embedded on the walls and light fixtures. A type of metal that emitted light. Money? [Light is literally of monetary value in Underworld!] Jack was struck dumb by this fact... because it made too much sense!
Holy Bone building Material? Boneyards weren't super common on the Ruined Continent, but the biggest were located in the lands of The Holy Kingdom of Deagoth. Boneyards were made by two types of phenomenon. Battle where countless living and undead died true deaths, thus forming a large pit of bones. This was how many Boneyards started, and lastly, the best Boneyards were made by a type of Underworld creature called a Bone Imps.
These creatures were a small mindless humanoid demon that collected bones to dam up Underworld rivers. The Underworld did indeed have rivers; three types of rivers at that! Rivers of lava, ice flows, and ichor. Ichor was a type of blood of the world, full of decayed matter from the Overworld and a hint of water. These were the most common rivers and made for the best Boneyards when dammed up by Bone Imps. Bone Imps would collect bones from all over, going so far as to crawl to the ceiling of the Underworld to pillage the bones from the dead and graves from the Overworld! If the races of the Overworld did not entomb their dead, most likely their bones were in a Boneyard.
Finally, the Holy Kingdom of Deagoth had a special import. Holy Bone building material. The Boneyard workers would dredge up these bones, test them for toughness and use, and finally sort them by size. These bones would then be transported to, what was called, the Holy Bone Mills. This is were Holy Bones were made. They would take these Bones and through an alchemical process involving a Holy Bone Smith, to forge these building Materials. Holy Bones could be used to build anything normal bones could, but the benefit of Holy Bones were how strong they were compared to regular Bone building material. The best use of Holy Bones were building structures and making weapons.
[Ah! So we have better concrete, than the other Countries.] Jack thought for a few minutes, with his new found knowledge, still holding the tome, and pacing back and forth through the study aimlessly.
[So someone has incited the Boneyard workers to make a fuss... Then tied up legislation to clam them down, so they form a union. With the union, they would sell themselves, and if the kingdom can't pay them off then they would take the highest bidder... OR The union causes chaos, and this gives one of the Countries the excuse to invade and snatch it up... clever, but cliché.] Jack had started using the word cliché, a lot after his re-awaking.
[So the House of Undeath, again...] Jack had concluded that with legislation being manipulated, it was the House of Undeath that orchestrated this fiasco. [Either all the Officials of Undeath are planning a coup, or there is one guy that's being a jackass... If this was a story which would it be?] Jack was trying to think his way through this one; after a while of thinking, shelved the problem, for now.
[Finally, what I have been waiting for! Let's study... Cultivation! As the saying goes, before absolute power, schemes are nothing!] Jack actually laughed out loud as he walked over to the clearly marked table.
Jack picked up the tome labeled, "Understanding Cultivation," with a stack of other Cultivation books, and walked to the only desk in the study. Sitting down in the black bony chair, by the desk, the only thought Jack had about the tome he was about to read was [How convenient!]
Cultivation had different power ranks, per the usual. These ranks were universally named by all races in the world, though this tome was obviously written from an undead point of view. This made the verbiage easier to understand for Jack.
Starting from normal undead with no power, it went level by level. Disciple, Master, Grand Master, Knight, King, Emperor, Ancestor, Venerable, Saint, and God. The tome even listed some examples. The last Lich King was of a Venerable rank, The Heroes that fought The last Lich King were Ancestor ranks. Most monarchs are at King rank, like The Holy Witch King, and was the reason why the rank was called king.
[So for example, The Holy Witch King was King rank, Verruca is Knight rank, most of the War Marshalls are Grand Masters, and all the other Officials are basically Master rank. I wonder what my current rank is... I sure hope it's not Disciple.]
Cultivation was the simple act of drawing power or magic, as both words were interchangeable, from the outside world into the soul. Any creature that was sentient and had a soul could cultivate. Cultivation was nothing more than increasing the power of the soul, through the soul the power could be unleashed in techniques or magics. Techniques being physical moves, while magics are just that, power released in a manner to accomplish a task. There were seven main schools of Cultivation. Holy, Unholy, Arcane, Fire, Ice, Nature, and Blood. Each with their own advantages and disadvantages, except Blood. Blood had neither advantage or disadvantage. This, in its own way, was Blood's advantage.
Jack put down the tome, and picked up the next labeled, "The Holy Light, and How to Swing it: Undead Edition." Jack dully stared at the tome's name. [You have got to be kidding me.] Shaking his head for the umpteenth time today, he cracked it open and began to read. This tome detailed how an undead could cultivate the Holy Light, a school of Cultivation that was poisonous to Undead. The theory behind it was similar to poisonous Cultivation techniques of living beings. For example, living beings could cultivate the Unholy Dark and Various poison Cultivation. All Cultivation types at their extremes were dangerous to the soul and body of any being, living or undead. Wouldn't fire burn the soul? Wouldn't Ice freeze it?
[So I have to first become immune to the poisonous effects of Holy magic. I guess that hints the Holy water baths.] Jack thought about his Cultivation, as another thought struck him. Looking down at his right arm, he couldn't help but take another look at the golden runes etched into his bones. [So I've had Holy runes etched into all of my Bones to make it easier for me to draw in Holy magic... Genius!] Jack already had the hardest part for an undead to start Cultivating Holy magic completed, by the previous Holy Witch King. [So Holy, Unholy, and Arcane magics are part of the world, and are the easiest to absorb, but the Holy Light is special in that it only takes believing in it to absorb it...] Holy magic was special in this regard, while Unholy magic could be absorbed by committing foul deeds and channeling the negative energies released, or Arcane magics by severing the emotions of the Cultivator and becoming one with existence, allowing the Arcane magics to enter into oneself as another part of the world.
Jack put down the tome, and decided before he learned any spells, he needed magic to fuel them. He looked up from his desk to look for a good spot to Cultivate. How could Jack who was big into games and role play not look for a visually impactful place to Cultivate.
Jack was disappointed in finding that there was no place in such a huge library study that would satisfy his vanity while Cultivating. He decided that, when he had time, he would make a fantastic Cultivation place. Unknown to Jack, the previous Holy Witch King would just cultivate while sitting at his desk. He didn't care about where he did it, it didn't matter to him.
Jack could only do the best he could. He looked up at the undead Chronometer and read out the date and time. Thankfully, the tome Jack had absorbed last time taught him how to read these crazy contraptions. undead Chronometers were powered by mindless undead vermin. They would run on mice wheels to turn the gears of the clock like mechanism, truly genius, however macabre it was. He had a week left. Jack had long become numb to how quickly time passed. Only now, he just felt it was a little ridiculous.
He then walked to a large Glowstone pearl embedded into one of the walls and sat under it. The feeling of Light cascading down him did help him feel like he was about to absorb the Light. Jack closed his vision, and the now soothed golden wisps in his eyes vanished.
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