Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Marethyu, Malcolm Tent, Priapus
The Guild of Gamers: The Necromancer
Chapter 09: Red Moon Rising
– Glynda Goodwitch –
"That bad, huh?" Qrowe asked, slumping into the seat opposite Glynda as she gave the smug adventurer a dirty look, taking another sip from her wine. "Lemme guess, you found out about his telekinesis?"
"You knew?" Glynda asked dangerously, only getting a laugh in response. "A 'freebie'. He thought telekinesis, the art to which I have dedicated my life, was a freebie that came extra with magic."
Qrowe's answering laughter was not comforting, but Glynda did not expect comfort from an alcoholic layabout.
"You worked out what's so weird about him yet?" Qrowe asked, as if this were some simple puzzle with all the pieces already neatly lined up.
"Of course not. I could see death magic and sex magic being connected as a single school, as sex is linked to fertility, which is linked to life. It would explain how he healed everyone, after all. But telekinesis? Telepathy? His magical crafting? He undoubtedly has more than one school of magic, which goes against almost everything we know about magic. You know that there are only two exceptions to the rule," Glynda explained.
"Oz, who can use all the schools linked to the Goddess of Light, and her, who can use all the schools linked to the Goddess of Darkness. And yet, if sex is linked to fertility and then life, that's a school from the Goddess of Light," Qrowe continued for her, getting a nod from her.
"While Necromancy is certainly from the Goddess of Darkness. It has the same taint to it that we've seen in others chosen by the Dark Goddess. Telekinesis and Telepathy are neutral schools, able to be granted by both. I don't even know where to begin with his Artificing, because it laughs in the face of everything we know about magical enchantment as it does not use dust," Glynda finished. "Magical enchanting works because of the magic inherent in Dust. Dust is natural mana taking a physical form. You can't enchant without Dust, that's just- common knowledge!"
"And yet…" Qrowe trailed off with a lazy grin. "His runestones work in the place of Dust."
"Exactly. He's imbuing his own magic into items, and while it's been done before, it doesn't last. Magic rarely enjoys being static. Dust is the only way we've had to stabilise magic before, but the runestones function without it. I personally watched him carve several, and I still can't wrap my head around the process," Glynda admitted with a sigh. This was a more difficult task than she had originally expected. "I have no idea what makes Rowan different, and I fear that Salem does know. Whatever she was trying to do, I truly fear that she won't give up after Rowan ended up here rather than with her."
"Mhmm. My contacts have seen her agents moving around and converging on Vale. Not Patch, yet. This place is too small, outsiders stand out too much. I've personally kept an eye on every new adventurer that shows up, but sending spies here isn't easy," Qrowe agreed with a scowl. "Only, Rowan is bound to head to Vale sooner or later. I've already heard Ruby, Yang and Rowan discussing a potential visit to the mainland. This recent fuck-up shook their confidence and slowed them down, but they are going to leave this place sooner or later."
"Where they'll be far easier prey for her agents," Glynda replied with a frown. "I can help keep an eye on them when they're in the main city, of course, but adventurers rarely remain stationary. Not to mention, any outward efforts to escort or protect them would also draw more attention to them."
"Summer is talking about going with them, and returning to becoming a full-time adventurer now that the girls are all grown up, but yeah," Qrowe agreed. "I'll probably do the same, but… keep my distance. Make sure any agents that poke their heads out of the shadows lose them. Tai would as well, but he's needed here. Patch is too useful in training adventurers to risk leaving it without any of us."
She wasn't wrong. Patch was a perfect training area for Vale's many adventurers. While few stayed here, most adventurers would find themselves here in their early years, often remaining until they got to around silver or gold. It was safe enough that deaths were rare, and having three legendary adventurers living here meant that even when things went wrong, Tai, Qrowe or Summer could usually retrieve lost parties or deal with any monsters that spawned that were beyond the capabilities of the beginner adventurers.
Adamantite Adventurers were incredibly rare. There were less than ten currently active in the world, so having three of them being stationed in such a safe location had drawn a lot of complaints from the nobles of Vale, especially given that she and Ozpin had 'retired', Ozpin to lead the Adventurer's Guild, and her to found her Academy, but Patch was needed. Without it, they'd see far fewer adventurers surviving their early days, which meant fewer active adventurers in general. Plus, Qrowe at least still took on contracts when she was needed. It hadn't stopped the complaints about Summer and Tai remaining inactive, and there had even been a scheme to make Tai a Baron, the lowest rank of nobility, to try and force him to become more active by tying him to the crown and nobility.
Ozpin had stopped it, owing to a downright ancient promise from a king long dead to leave Patch independent, and the fact that the nobility was not permitted to interfere with the Adventurer's Guild, for the most part. This wasn't Atlas, after all.
Shaking her head, she frowned to herself. The nobility was not going to leave Rowan alone. Word had already reached the mainland of a newly-discovered mage, and even without the strangeness around him, Rowan was highly desired. Every noble house wanted more magic in their bloodlines; the lesser nobles wanted to get raised in rank by marrying a mage into their line, rich merchants and guildsmen wanted to become nobles, and even the royal family was likely to be tempted to marry him to the princess. Every mage was effectively a Count, even the most useless, indolent mage would be made into a Count or Countess, but a talented one, one that was making magical items and reinventing the entire enchanting system?
If Rowan continued with his creations and made a name for himself as an adventurer, he was bound to become a Duke. She'd been made a Duchess, after all. She'd only agreed to join the nobility to fulfil her dreams of forming the academy, which was easier with the land and wealth that came with her title.
Every noble house below dukedom would likely be aiming to recruit Rowan into their house once word spread. That wasn't even mentioning the wealthy non-nobility and other Kingdoms. Atlas was bound to come for him. They'd always prided themselves on being the best when it came to enchanting, and he threatened their monopoly on it. They'd likely try to betroth Princess Winter or Weiss to him if he grew famous enough.
Patch was the safest place for him, away from the worst of the scheming of both the nobles and the enemy, and yet… it would hinder his growth. Patch was wonderful for weak adventurers, but it was too safe for powerful ones to truly thrive. Rowan would need to become strong to protect himself from Salem's plans and all the other threats that mages faced. Keeping him hidden away in Patch, against his wishes, would just leave him unprepared for the true dangers he and his party would face in the future.
"Salem isn't going to sit around and wait for Rowan to leave Patch," Qrowe finally said, and Glynda just nodded with a frown. Things had been quiet since Rowan's arrival, but it was simply the calm before the storm.
– Rowan Blackwood –
Returning to my workshop, I groan. Today, Ruby, Yang and I all had to report to the Adventurer's Guild to give our reports on what happened during the mission. Coco's team did it before I woke up, but they let Ruby and Yang wait for me to wake up first. Normally, such an after-action report wouldn't be necessary, but the presence of a White Fang member on Patch has raised some alarms. Apparently, the Fang have been hitting less-protected villages in Vale recently, so tensions are high. Interrogations show how she avoided detection. She stowed away on a merchant ship and jumped into the water when the ship was approaching the docks without the crew noticing, so she wasn't found during the final inspection when they entered port.
They were awfully polite with us, but I think the fact that they were dealing with a mage made them treat me like they would a member of the nobility. Sure, the average adventurer on Patch might not care for the nobles, but the Guild itself still has to at least play nice with them.
Honestly, even still? It was draining. It actually gave me some ideas for my Artificing, but nothing I can work on immediately. Whatever I want to do going forward, money is always going to play a part. It opens doors and allows for better opportunities.
While there are some financial opportunities with my necromancy, now that I'm not looking at it with the eyes of a modern man, Artificing is going to be the key. In this world, all magic is a gift from the Gods, and I'm coming to realise that I'm more biased about my own magic than most people. The more convenient I make my creations, the easier it'll be to turn a profit with them.
I've had a long discussion with Miss Goodwitch over the differences between Artificing and Enchanting, and what kind of things are available from Enchanting. The answer? Really not that many. The Kingdom of Atlas is the biggest source of enchanted items, but they tend to be weapons, armour, golems, slave collars and other more militaristic things. It seems that it is very rare for enchanting to be used to make things more convenient, and there are multiple reasons for that.
Firstly, it's hard to enchant. Dust is highly volatile, even after the enchanting process is complete, and without regular maintenance, there's a risk of instability leading to all manner of issues. Even Ruby's weapon, which only has very minor enchantments, requires being taken back to the Royal Academy of Magic in Vale once a year. Atlas built its wealth and power from a dust refining process, but it's still risky. There's also the fact that fully trained enchanters are just rare. It can take decades to be able to make more than minor trinkets. Finally, Dust- in its processed form- is incredibly expensive, and nobody beyond high-ranking adventurers, extremely successful merchants, guildsmen and the nobility could afford such a thing.
She did caution me that while my Artificing has the chance to make enchanted equipment affordable to the common people, I should expect a great deal of pushback and opposition if I go down this route. Magic has been a sign of nobility in this world since it first appeared; the nobles won't want the commoners getting their hands on magical items, even those that just make life more convenient.
There's also the risk that Atlas would take offence at someone bypassing their Dust monopoly. They don't own all the Dust mines, but they do have the most efficient and safe method of refining the Dust to make it usable. It was such a big deal that it made the mage who discovered it King, and even now, his descendants rule Atlas. The Schnee Dynasty aren't likely to take kindly to me bypassing the need for Dust entirely.
Of course, she also warned me that the Vale Royalty might try to bind me to Vale so that Vale can replace Atlas as the most advanced nation. Atlas and Vale may be allies on paper, but wars have been fought for less, and the last thing I want is to start a war with my technology.
And yet, I also refuse to be crippled by indecision. Patch is perhaps the perfect place to start this, separated from the games nobles play. It is part of Vale, on paper, but was granted conditional independence centuries ago.
There's a part of me that says 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do' but I refuse. I don't particularly believe in fate, but I got these powers and I'm not just going to sit on my hands and do nothing with them. Sure, I could become a top-tier adventurer and save countless lives, but that's not solving the baseline problem. I can't be everywhere. My tech can.
"You wanted to see me?" Yang asks as she enters, leaning against the doorframe. I wave her over.
"We fucked up," I start, and she just snorts in agreement.
"Considering it took you pulling some true bullshit to stop me and Rubes getting gangbanged by goblins? Yeah, we sure as fuck did," Yang agrees, frustration on her face. "I forgot to replace my runestone. Got all cocky while I could punch fire, then the fire sputtered out, and I almost got a different type of cock for my stupid fucking mistake."
She says it jokingly, but I can see she's blaming herself. There's a lot of that going around at the moment.
"I've built in some new features into your gauntlets. Made them a little heftier as a result, but I've refined the reloading process and added a gauge to show you how much mana your current runestones have left," I explain, seeing her lips twitch from her scowl into a genuine smile. "We got very lucky, but while it is nice to have… I never want to count on luck again. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress."
"Ain't that the truth?" Yang snorts. "Don't worry about the weight. I'll get used to them. I'm training with Dad again. I got way too fucking sloppy."
"I've also added a new feature to them, though it can be rather draining on the mana. Put them on," I say, gesturing at them as she easily slips them both on. Stepping back, she mimes a few punches, not unleashing the energy blasts thankfully.
"What now, bossman?" Yang asks with an excited grin.
"I realised a flaw in our strategy. You are basically defenceless against ranged enemies. Ruby and I can normally make up for that, but after we got distracted, you were easy pickings for their archers," I explain, seeing her nod in reluctant agreement. "Cross your arms in an X in front of you."
Doing as I requested, she gasps as a bubble of energy appears around her. It's small, barely fitting her, and bright red as she currently has a fire runestone inside it, but as I rise I draw my manapistol and aim at her. Her eyes widen as I take aim and fire at her, the blue bolt splashing against her shield harmlessly.
"Don't become overly reliant on it. In this prototype stage, it's a complete mana hog, but most projectiles should bounce harmlessly from it," I explain, seeing her excitement. "It's also less effective at blocking melee attacks, from my current testing. If you just try to tank everything, the runestone will be drained in seconds. I've also placed a slot for a second runestone on the gauntlets. It will only fit a smaller runestone, but it will act as an emergency reserve."
"Have I mentioned that you're the best team leader, Rowan?" Yang says, her grin unmoved by my warnings.
"It has come up, but feel free to praise me more. I rather enjoy it," I admit with a smile of my own. "Our second issue was much simpler. We got overwhelmed. We have no way of affecting multiple enemies at once beyond my spells, and I have both a limited supply of mana and few true damaging area of effect spells. Once Prelude to Doom failed to intimidate them, we simply got beaten by sheer numbers. It doesn't matter how fast you can kill them if two more take the place of every slain monster."
"You're not wrong. I felt like I crushed so many of them, but it didn't even seem to dent their numbers," Yang agrees.
"I'm working on a solution to that as well. Preparation is half the battle, and the other half is violence," I joke. I am… hesitant to introduce the art of explosives to this world, given its effect on warfare, but with the monsters, I can't afford to be hesitant. "Ruby's staff helps, but it burns out too quickly and if she goes down or loses it, we have nothing to deal with crowds."
Runestone grenades are expensive because they completely consume the used runestone, but they are also highly effective. I'm still in the testing phases at the moment, but the theory is sound and my tests have produced solid results. If we'd had a few fire runestone grenades during the attack, I could have wiped out the tightly gathered horde and massively thinned their numbers.
But at the same time, I'm treading down a well-beaten road. In my world, the introduction of firearms changed the very fate of warfare because all of a sudden, an unwashed peasant with a crossbow could kill a knight who had trained his entire life and was equipped in the best armour money could buy. With my weapons, a peasant is a threat to even the royal knights and the best adventurers.
I am not so naive as to think that my weapons will only be used against the monsters. Humanity just doesn't work like that. Even if they don't turn the weapons upon each other, they will turn them on the other races.
"Hell yeah. You do the prep, I'll do the violence," Yang agrees cheerfully. "Are you upgrading Ruby's gear as well?"
"Obviously. I can't touch Crescent Rose until I've had a chance to talk to the craftsmen at the Royal Academy who made it, but I'm making some modifications to her staff," I explain. "I just already had the ideas for what I wanted to do with your gear in mind. I can make minor improvements to hers, but I'd rather focus on the larger benefits that come with giving your gear the new features."
"Yeah, makes sense," Yang agrees, hesitating as I give her a raised eyebrow.
"Something on your mind? It's not like you to hesitate," I point out, getting a laugh from her. It's a dry one, but she just nods.
"Something like that, yeah. I fucking froze," Yang admits, and I remain silent, knowing she isn't done. "Not during the fight itself, but after I… went down. I panicked, froze and fought like a fucking idiot instead of keeping my cool. All I could think was 'this isn't how I want my first time to be' as I uselessly flailed."
"I think we all did a little flailing there," I commiserate, but she just shakes her head.
"Not my point. Thinking back, I can see multiple things I could have done that could have helped get me free. Instead, I was just freaking out as they stripped me, as the hobgoblin took off his loincloth," Yang continues. "I flirt, a lot, but I am a virgin. The furthest I've gone was a handy, and the only reason I didn't lose my v-card to a fucking hobgoblin is because it was taking its time, mocking me. I'm still a virgin, barely, because the fucker was grinding his cock against my cunt, enjoying my panic."
I remain silent, letting her get it out of her system.
"And I just froze. I could have gotten my hands free and grabbed the dagger he had at his waist. I could have done a dozen things, but instead I just froze and laid there as he got ready to fuck me, while his goblin minions groped and bit my tits. If you hadn't saved us, I'd have just laid there and let them use me because I fucking froze," Yang finishes, hugging herself somewhat. "I don't want to freeze again, and I definitely don't want to lose my virginity to a monster, or a bandit who gets lucky or who the fuck knows what else. So, I want you to take it first."
"Yang… are you sure about this?" I ask, seeing her cocky smile return, even if it looks somewhat fragile.
"Look, you said it yourself. Lady Luck is a fickle bitch. We could do everything right, and something could still go wrong. No matter how good we are, no matter how prepared, we could still lose," Yang explains.
"True. Preparation can help mitigate the damage of things going south, but there's never such a thing as a guaranteed win," I admit.
"Exactly. So, I want to make sure that if the worst does happen, and I pray it doesn't, I can handle it. That I won't freeze, or spend my life regretting how my first time went," Yang says, shrugging off the gauntlets and placing them down on my workshop table. "I want it to be you, because I trust you. You're hot, and professional enough not to make it weird. But if you don't want to do this? I'm losing my virginity one way or the other. If you won't take it, someone else will. I'll put on some old, tight clothes, head down to the tavern and let the first guy who hits on me take me home."
I can tell she's dead serious about this as she grips her top and pulls it over her head. Her top is fairly thick, which is why it hid the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra so well. Her admittedly massive breasts pop free of the top, bouncing wildly for a moment before they settle. Even her nipples are big, large, pink areolas on full display as she stands before me topless.
"So, what's it going to be?" Yang asks, and I think for a moment before I rise.
"You are one hundred percent sure about this? This isn't something you can take back afterwards," I point out, but she just grins and takes my hand, pulling me in for a fiery kiss, her tongue pushing its way into my mouth.
"I'm sure," Yang promises, moving my hand to her breast as she smirks. "Besides, don't tell me you've never thought about this."
As she speaks, she gestures at herself before she pushes down her shorts without a moment of hesitation, her panties going down with them. Before I can respond, she's kissing me again as she guides me over to the bed. Never before have I been so glad to have all my stuff in the basement, as my bed is only a few steps from my little workshop, and she falls back onto it with a sultry grin.
"Well, I won't pretend I haven't considered it," I admit, admiring her body. She really is sinfully good looking, with the largest breasts I've ever seen and incredibly curvy hips. Her legs spread wide, inviting me in before I realise something. She's dry. Her nipples aren't even remotely hard, her pussy is as dry as the deserts of Vacou. She's also tense as fuck, but trying to put on a brave face.
But she does want this, and I don't want her going and having a bad experience with some stranger (or strangers if she gets drunk enough) because I sent her away, so I make my decision. I don't want to start this with magic- it feels like cheating- but after all my time with Summer, I'd like to think I know a thing or two about what I'm doing.
Removing my shirt, I toss it aside as she admires my chest. In truth, I'm not exactly muscular compared to a lot of adventurers, but I am also not out of shape. Maybe I should look into getting into better shape, in truth. It's never going to be a bad thing. Instead of removing my trousers immediately, I move onto the bed and gesture for her to move back against the headboard, watching her shuffle back (and her breasts jiggle with each movement).
Moving up, I kiss her again, only briefly before I give her a smile and start moving my way down her body, kissing her neck, then her upper torso, before I reach those magnificent tits. She giggles as I grope and squeeze them, before letting out a surprised moan as I take one of her nipples into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it and suckling on it for a moment as her hand moves to my head. She intertwines her fingers with my hair, holding me closer as she lets out a quiet gasp, but I'm not done here as I continue my odyssey south after passing the peaks of Mount Yang.
She giggles as I kiss her belly button, but we both know that I'm not stopping here as her legs part further. I'm pleased to find just a hint of wetness as I reach my destination, watching her bite her lip in preparation before I tease her a little by moving to her thighs instead. She lets out a whine as I bypass her pussy entirely, and gets back at me by simply closing her very thick thighs around my head, trapping me in place as she runs her fingers through my hair. Giving her a grin, I gesture for her to part them again, giving her what she wants as I latch onto her pussy instantly, pushing a finger inside her as I go down on her.
"Ooh, fuck," Yang gasps, her legs clenching down again, subconsciously this time as I tease her clit and add a second finger into her. She doesn't want a regrettable first time, and I intend to deliver. As I eat her pussy, I start to truly taste her juices as her body responds, her moans becoming louder (causing me to quickly cast a Noise Suppression, much to her amusement and slight embarrassment).
With her showing all the proper signs of arousal, and an excited look on her face, now I feel much more comfortable pulling out my tricks as I cast Enhance Sensations, her voice suddenly singing as she gasps and then moans lewdly, her legs tight around my head as one hooks behind my neck to keep me in place.
"F-fuck, Rowan. I knew you'd be good at this," Yang purrs, gasps intermingling with her words. "Mom certainly seems to think so~"
"Like mother, like daughter," I mumble into her soaked cunt, getting a giggle from her as my breath tickles her extremely sensitive womanhood. I'm gratified to see the tension has almost completely left her body. Speeding up my fingers, I chuckle as she lets out a shuddering scream, her voice growing louder as her climax crashes over her. Her legs finally relax, allowing me to extract myself as I lick my fingers clean. She pants, satisfaction clear on her face as she watches me undo my belt and finish stripping.
"My turn?" Yang asks, licking her lips as I smile.
"Maybe later, but I have a job to do, you know?" I tease, moving back between her legs as I press my cock against her cunt. Her drenched lips try to grip my cock as I grind it against her for a moment before I realise my mistake. Her smile fades somewhat, her body stiffening as I curse myself. Kissing her, I roll us over to her surprise, my hands moving to her ass. "But you don't get to just lie there and make your leader do all the work, Yang."
"Sorry, sir~" Yang agrees with a giggle, giving me a grateful look as she moves back until she's sitting directly on my cock, trapping it against my stomach. She grabs my hand, moving one to her tits as she starts to slowly grind along my length with a quiet gasp. "Fuck, Rowan. That's going to feel so good inside me."
I just smile, giving her ass a slap as she yelps in surprise before giving me a dangerous smile.
"Let's find out just how good~" Yang teases, lifting up her hips and grasping my cock before she lines herself up. I expected her to go slow, but I should have known better as she instantly drops herself fully onto it, her eyes widening as she lets out a cry of surprise. She doesn't have her hymen; she's too active for that, but the knowledge that I just took her virginity makes me grin as her tight cunt squeezes down on me. "Oh, fuck~"
Looking down at me, she gives me a triumphant grin, as if she's won some great victory as she begins to ride me, gyrating her hips. I help guide her a little, my hands moving to her waist, but she quickly sets an… intense pace, the bedframe shaking with each bounce.
"Just lie back and enjoy the ride, Sir~" Yang purrs, leaning back as she places her hands on my legs to brace herself. She's an intense girl, so I'm not surprised that she immediately decided to go so hard, and I certainly am not complaining about the sight of her massive breasts bouncing with each movement. "J-just lemme know when you're going to cum, yeah?"
"I will," I promise, getting a grin back from her as she throws herself into the moment. Her moans grow louder, with her making no attempt to quieten herself, and I start to thrust up to meet her bounces, my cock filling her to the brim with each bounce.
Her eyes roll back slightly as her breathing becomes increasingly erratic and ragged, and I know she's going to cum again. I'm not quite there yet, but I don't think I'll be far behind. Her inner walls tighten down on me again and again, her warmth making me groan as she runs a hand through her hair with a triumphant moan.
"I'm close," I warn with a slightly uneven voice, and she just nods as she comes down from her own orgasm. With some effort, she pulls herself off my cock and moves down. Without a moment of hesitation, she captures my cock between her breasts and does her best to jiggle them while it's trapped in her pillowy confines. Getting the idea, I thrust up into the valley with a groan, and it's not long before I blow my load.
With their sheer size, I'm hardly surprised that barely any escapes to spurt onto her chin, most of my seed trapped between her cleavage as she sits up with a smug smile. Wiping some from the top of her tits, she brings it to her lips and licks it clean.
"Huh, doesn't taste as bad as I expected," Yang admits, slumping down on the bed next to me before she places a lazy kiss on my cheek. "Thanks."
"The pleasure was all mine," I joke.
"Not all yours, I promise you that. Fuck, that was fun. We're doing that again. Probably a lot," Yang swears, stroking my cock as she lies with her body half-over mine.
"A good leader should make sure that the needs of his team are taken care of," I say earnestly, pleased by her giggles as she rests her head on my shoulder.
"You went easy on me, didn't you?" Yang asks, a challenging look in her eyes.
"Cum," I respond, weaving my magic into my voice. Her eyes shoot open as her entire body shudders with the sheer force of her climax. She lets out a strangled scream, but I just smile. "Cum."
"W-wait- Mhm~ Ooh fuck," Yang whimpers, trying to bite down on the moans.
"No. Now, Cum," I demand, a light smirk on my lips as she flails. Before she can recover, I'm on top of her once more, and this time there's no flinch as I press my cock against her pussy. "Be a good girl and cum."
And then, I'm inside her again. Time to show her what an Eromancer can truly do.
– Later –
Approaching Fran's 'cell' again, I see her staring at me unblinkingly.
"I've been told you wanted to talk to me. Have you come to a decision?" I ask, seeing Fran take a moment to compose herself.
"If I choose to return to slavery, will I ever see Velvet again?" Fran finally asks.
"I am friends with Coco and her party, and have an invitation to visit them in Vale, so I expect so," I reply simply. "You would be a member of my party, as we currently lack a scout, so I would be taking you on any quests we go on."
"I don't care what I'd be doing," Fran cuts in, staring up at me. Her cage doesn't give her much room to move, and it's not large enough for her to stand. "Given what I almost caused, I wouldn't be surprised if you used me as monster bait."
"Monster bait?" I ask, getting a snort from her.
"You really are green. Many types of monsters will fuck rather than kill females they beat or capture. It's not unheard of to buy a female slave to send to 'distract' a powerful monster," Fran explains with a scowl. "Assuming you don't use me for that, I imagine I'll be getting used either way. Don't bother saying you wouldn't do that. I don't care. You're going to be my… master, after all."
"So, you've decided?" I ask, and she just nods.
"I want to see Velvet, to talk to her. It wasn't- it wasn't supposed to go like that. Take me with you when you go to see the Adels, and I'll serve you however you want," Fran says, her tone defeated. "I thought I was ready to die, but having Velvet be so close and yet so far… I'm not ready to meet the Animal God just yet."
"So be it," I say. I was fairly certain that she'd make this decision. She doesn't seem ready to die; there's a fire in her eyes still. But that is also why I can't trust her, and she watches as I rifle through my Bag of Holding and pull out a small cage made of blackened iron. "You've broken your bonds once before, and no brand can be reapplied until we get to Vale. Fortunately, I have my own ways of ensuring your obedience. I'm sorry that this is necessary, but you did kill your last master and almost get my entire party raped and murdered, so I'm not that sorry. Please don't resist, it'll just make things more… complicated, and may result in your death."
Her eyes widen at that as I start casting, haunting words flowing from my mouth as she remains perfectly still. The cage begins to glow, and so does she as I begin my spell. I've looked for a spell, any spell, that could help me with this situation and Necromancy had the answers. I haven't dealt with spirits much, but I am confident in my skills as I finish the spell and she lets out a shuddering gasp as something leaves her body and enters the tiny cage, making it glow with a dim light.
"What- what did you do?" Fran asks.
"I trapped your soul. I would not advise running or attempting to slay me. If you get too far away from me, or if I die, your soul will be forfeit," I explain, seeing her eyes widen in fear.
Trap Soul
This spell allows the caster to trap the soul of a living being inside an object of their choice, for a varied range of effects depending on the item and the soul. Once trapped, the Soul can be controlled to an extent.
Stealing her soul was not exactly my first choice, and normally it would leave her comatose but that's where the custom-built cage comes in. As long as I have the cage, I can cast spells on her no matter the distance, I can use it to find her no matter where she goes or what she does, and I can use it to command her as if I were commanding an undead.
I am mildly exasperated that in my quest to end slavery, I made a more effective method of making people into slaves.
"You- how-" Fran whispers, her dark-chocolate skin paling in an almost patchy way, her eyes wide with fright. "What are you?"
"A Necromancer. You chose this, Fran, and you will pay your penance, in life or in death," I say sternly, putting the cage back into my bag. Pulling out a key, I approach and open up her cell, gesturing for her to leave it. For the first time in days, she actually gets to stand up, even if she seems to be on shaky legs, likely due to only being fed the bare minimum to keep her alive. "Know this, Fran. I don't blame you for disliking or even hating me, but if you ever endanger my party again, I will personally shred your soul to nothing but fragments. I hope we can move past this rough start, even if I'm expecting it to be a bumpy road, but if your actions endanger Ruby or Yang, I will kill you. Your soul will be forfeit, your body killed and returned as one of my undead."
"I… I understand," Fran says, and I actually believe her. Her posture is usually so much more rebellious, but now she's sinking into herself.
I'm glad she understands, because I mean it. I don't blame her for wanting to free Velvet, but if I have to choose between sparing her or keeping my party safe, I will kill her.
"Do not try to steal the cage, Fran. You lack the magic to free your soul, and I can affect you sith my spells even from a distance. You would only hasten your demise," I warn.
What I don't tell her is the last precaution I've taken.
Death Ward
This spell is cast in a place or on an item, such as a door or a book, able to be keyed to ignore certain people; it always ignores the caster. Anyone not keyed to be ignored will suffer an instant death, from means that need no outside force.
If she ever touches the cage, she will die. I've keyed Ruby, Yang, Summer, Qrowe and Tai to it. If anyone else is rifling through my Bag of Holding, that's their problem, frankly. I never really let it leave my side anyway. At some point, you can only blame yourself and stealing from a Necromancer is just asking for a curse or two at a minimum.
I don't want to kill her, but if I'm keeping her around, I am taking every single precaution I can to make sure that my mercy isn't paid for with the blood of others.
She just nods, rapidly and desperately. I think she's reconsidering everything she thought she knew about me as I gesture for her to follow me out of the cellar that was doubling as a prison. She attracts some attention, walking 'free', but my presence and her clear submissive posture seem to keep us from getting asked too many questions as I take her back home.
Summer isn't thrilled at the idea of keeping her here, but agrees that she can join me in the cellar as long as I'm sure the magic will keep her from betraying me. I am. I've woven Draining Touch and Slow Death into the cage, and if she tries to kill me, it'll drain her to the brink of death and then put her in stasis.
Fran seems surprised when I go to the effort of getting a second, admittedly smaller, bed for her. I guess she thought it was going to be either the floor or my bed. I also let her have a bath, but that's partially because she was starting to smell after her time in the cage.
At the end of the day, if I'm going to trust her on a quest with us, I might as well keep her close when we're not questing as well. She can't do any more damage here than she'll be able to do when we're in the wilds.
As a test, of sorts, I do place my bag on the workshop table and leave it unattended, but she doesn't take the bait. Either my words were effective, or she saw the bait as what it was. I need to get better at Telepathy because while I can send messages to people, I can barely read surface thoughts with it. It's more complicated than Telekinesis. I can tell she's nervous, but if she's harbouring schemes to betray me, I can't tell.
"Rowan!" Taiyang shouts, causing me to jump slightly as I look up from what I'm working on, seeing him enter the cellar.
"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting up and putting down my tools.
"Yang mentioned you had a plan for dealing with groups, right? How close is it to being ready?" Taiyang asks, a grim look on his face as I frown.
"I've only run some basic tests, but it seems to be going well. Why? What's wrong?" I ask, getting a sigh from him. Fran seems as confused as I am, but she's also doing her best not to attract attention. She is well aware that she's not popular here, given what she almost caused to happen to Tai's daughters. "We have a Blood Moon."
I hear Fran gasp, unable to stop herself, but I just frown.
"Details, please. I'm new at this, remember?" I ask, giving him my full attention as he nods.
"It's a… well, I won't call it natural, but it's a phenomenon where the moon appears red in certain parts of the world. Nobody knows what causes it, but the results are always devastating. Dungeons under the Blood Moon produce monsters at massively increased rates and spew them out constantly. These monsters always surge for the nearest settlement," Taiyang explains, his grim look suddenly making more sense. "It tends to last around a week, and tonight the moon has risen a bright, crimson red. It's brighter than the others I've seen, and there's a theory that the more crimson the red, the longer and more dangerous the event lasts. Patch is going to be swarmed. We've not experienced one of these in… decades. Rowan, Kingdoms have fallen to Blood Moons before. Patch has defences, but this is beyond anything they're ready for. All monsters become stronger under the Blood Moon, as well, and they stop infighting."
"Will we be attacked tonight?" I ask, relieved as he shakes his head.
"No, or not in any great number at least. Day three tends to be the start of the true danger. We'll be swarmed by the wandering monsters that were already outside the dungeon, but not the main horde yet," Tai explains. "But when they come, they'll come in numbers that will make the goblins you had to fight seem like a small pack."
"Then we still have time," I say, rising to my feet. "So, if the monsters are coming here… does that mean you could get me the bodies?"
"During the day, yeah. The attacks will slow, and we'd normally burn them, but I can have the adventurers gather as many of them as possible," Tai agrees.
"Then until the bodies are ready, I have some work to do," I say, my mind racing. Undead will help even the numbers, but this is going to be bloody. No, I can't afford to hesitate.
It's time to introduce this world to the power of explosives. Now, how quickly can I build a mortar battery? Maybe some turrets that can be mounted on Patch's walls, since it already has places for archers.
Let them come. I'm going to turn this fucking raid into a tower defence game.