It happened so fast. Only a few heartbeats separated the moment Aira first saw Lila in her cell and when Lila wasn't… wasn't there with Aira anymore.
Her throat burned as a scream tore free, raw and guttural, echoing off the stone walls. Her fists slammed into the floor, splintering the cold stone. "Why?!" she choked, her voice breaking. The question hung in the air, unanswered, as her vision blurred with tears.
"Why I don't have any healing skills anymore?" roared Aira. "Why?!"
There were some scrambling sounds in the corridor. But Aira didn't care. Would that be other prisoners in the neighboring cells or the guards? It didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was that the sole person who appreciated Aira, not for her power or unusual status, was now dead.
"Skills…" thought Aira. "Could I…?"
She called out her System interface with a slight push of energy toward her wristband and re-read the description of the skill.
Necrocommunion (Level 7 / 1,536 SP to upgrade to Level 8)
- High chance of boosting cooperation among mid-level undead.
- You can sense the undead and scan their stats.
- You can raise medium-sized organisms as undead. Energy consumption: high.
- Maximum skill use distance: [1 km x Level] = 101 km
Upgrade further [Y/N]?
For sure, Lila wasn't a 'medium-sized organism.' Unless they truly had dragons in this world. The skill worked on that… gnarlfang. But still, the creature was much smaller than a human. Even if it was able to drag Lila from under the ice.
"What am I losing if I try?" thought Aira as she focused the power of the skill on Lila.
She could sense the ambient magic reacting to her will, power gathering around her and Lila. But then… nothing. No effect whatsoever.
A squeak sounded from the corner of the cell. Looking for a place to channel her rage and sorrow, without a second thought, Aira refocused the flow of the skill towards the source of the sound and some more rustling.
========== Character Status and Skill Overview ==========
Name: Adult Rat
Race: Undead Rat
Class: Rat
Level: 1
"At least I can be sure it works," Aira sighed.
"Sorry, little one," she addressed the rat. "I didn't mean to take you away from your family."
"Aira, what's happening?" asked Alliot over the group chat. "You haven't reported earlier, but now I sense some strange energies in the area."
"Lila is dead, Alliot," said Aira. "I don't know what to do."
"It's... unfortunate," Alliot said after a long pause, his voice clipped. "But you still mourn like a human. It's inefficient. The only reasonable thing to do is to retreat. We can do nothing more here. In Wentouk, we can consult with Ainorrh to determine your next steps. Retreat. Join me. It's time to go."
However, Alliot's interruption of her dark thoughts brought Aira a new glimmer of hope.
"That's so easy to say when you don't see a lot of deaths…" she whispered. "Can't you?"
"Can't I what?" asked Alliot.
"Transform her?" asked Aira. "I don't know how you call it. Make her an enlightened."
"No, I can't," said Alliot. "That's not what I do. You need a ritual. I don't know the rites. What's even worse, she's not alive anymore. The source has to be alive human."
"Alright, let me think about it for a moment," said Aira. "I can't leave her here. It's not… proper."
Aira checked the skill once again. She needed 1,536 skill points to upgrade to Level 8. Would that level even grant her the ability to turn a human being? And would it even work for a dead person? Or, as Alliot just stated, does the target have to be alive?
"No time for hesitation," said Aira to herself. "If anything, her body's condition isn't improving with every minute."
She checked her skill point reserves:
--- Current Status ---
Health: 572/572
Mana: ???/???
SP Used: 67,150
SP Available: 1,446
XP: 68,596,000 / 71,283,000 (Next Level: 102, Legendary)
"So, I have 1,446 SP, but I need 1,536 skill points to upgrade the skill," Aira went through the calculations. "Damn that Ainorrh and her requested to add new skills and upgrade old ones! I had plenty of skill points before!"
Seeing that Aira was deep in thought, a man peeked into the cell and began to carefully close the door from outside. However, he wasn't fast enough or quiet enough for Aira not to notice.
"Ah, you sneaky bastard," she growled with a mad smile and focused all her power on him.
Aira raised her hand, and the air around the guard shimmered with heat. His eyes widened in panic as his breath hitched. Then, with a sickening crackle, steam burst from his mouth and nostrils, and he crumpled to the floor, his skin blistering as the smell of burnt flesh filled the room. Not allowing energy to go to waste before the consciousness entirely left the guy, Aira reversed the flow of the arcane power and sucked him dry of his life force.
The man didn't even have time to issue a sound. And Aira was now filled with energy to the brim. The energy needed to find an outlet.
"Aira, what's happening?" sent Alliot again. "Is everything alright?"
"I have an idea," Aira answered. "Let me get through with it. Talk later."
She checked her status once again.
--- Current Status ---
Health: 572/572
Mana: ???/???
SP Used: 67,150
SP Available: 1,447
XP: 68,597,000 / 71,283,000 (Next Level: 102, Legendary)
"Ah, nice, one point," Aira thought. But even in her mind, her voice sounded unbalanced and disturbed. "Only eighty-nine to go."
Using a small part of the energy that was splashing within her, filling her whole being, she sent strands of probing energy all around her. The town was bursting with activity in places, but most of it was still unaware. Most of the townsfolk still sleeping in their houses.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"They still don't think it's an attack," thought Aira. "For them, it was just some bizarre force of nature."
Resolutely, she took a step toward the door. Then paused, returned to Lila, and touched her bloodied face.
"I'll be back," she growled softly. "I'll be back soon."
She looked at the undead rat that wasn't going anywhere without Aira's command.
"Don't let your relatives nibble on my friend. That's an order," she sent a command. "Don't let anyone do anything to Lila."
Then, wasting no more time, Aira turned on the spot and marched through the door.
"At least it would be easier for me to figure out who's complicit and who's not," she thought. "All complicit ones are awake and guarding the town or clearing the rubble after Alliot's attack."
Within the prison building, there were a couple dozen prisoners. It was easy to distinguish them thanks to their position in space. There were several more people here, though. And they had obviously heard the commotion earlier. This dead guy wouldn't come to Lila's cell if it wasn't the case.
For now, Aira focused on the few people who seemed to be in the corridors directly below and above her. Without hesitation, she sent bursts of energy toward them.
Two points. Three. Four.
"How many guards and rangers are there in the town?" mused Aira, her thoughts becoming surprisingly calm and distant. "During my execution, I saw a few dozen. But guards should have remained in other places and around the city wall. There should be enough of them here."
By the moment Aira left the building, the counter didn't climb much higher. She was still concerned about the prisoners. Aira wasn't a judge. Maybe they were here on the exact trumped-up charges as Lila was. Well, probably not for collaborating with the undead, though.
Right outside the building, a larger group awaited her.
"So, you are not as dumb and witless," she thought. "You figured out you need more people to deal with whatever lurking in the prison."
Six. Seven. Ten. Eleven points.
She didn't know where to put all that energy that was so easily accessible, thanks to all these guards. All these cruel enemies.
Aira put the bodies of the newly deceased people on fire even without sparing a glance. Flames roared to life behind her, consuming the fallen guards in a blinding inferno. The light danced across the square, casting grotesque shadows against the prison walls. Nearby trees crackled as the fire leaped to their branches, their leaves curling into ash that drifted down like black snow.
"Now the people will begin to wake up," she thought. "I need to move faster."
She probed in the direction where she had left Alliot. He didn't move far away from that place. But a bit closer to her, near the town's walls, Aira sensed a group of people. That had to be the guards called in to deal with the crumbled wall.
"Don't go anywhere," she thought with a grin. "I'm coming."
Lanterns bobbed erratically through the streets as shouts echoed off the stone walls. "The breach is getting worse!" someone cried, followed by the panicked clatter of boots on cobblestones. In the distance, a bell tolled frantically, its uneven rhythm betraying the fear of the person pulling the rope.
"So, they're beginning to notice things," thought Aira. "That's fine."
Aira was burning with rage, a fiery inferno that consumed her from within. Her hands shook, not with fear, but with the volatile energy coursing through her veins. She could almost sense the flow of magic around her. Ready to bend to her will.
Each step felt too slow, her body vibrating with the need to release the storm building inside her. "They'll pay," she softly growled under her breath, the strange sounds spilling out like embers from a fire.
The loss of Lila had ignited something dark and powerful inside her. Desperation and anger drove her to a decision she might not have considered in calmer times.
She got directly to action as soon as she approached the group of people she sensed as a large blob of energy in her magical vision.
Twenty. Thirty-one. Fifty-nine. Eighty-two.
There were no more alive humans left near the breach anymore. A couple of them felt familiar before their inner light was extinguished. Those were the people from the same ranger party that captured Lila at the ancient facility.
"Good! "thought Aira. "They reaped the reward they earned. "
"Aira, you have to stop! "Alliot was almost shouting. She never heard him so disturbed before. Not that they knew each other for long.
"I only have nine left, "she returned. "Don't get in my way. "
Nine more rangers. Was that a moment for Aira to just go along the wall and sweep every person she found there until she got the count?
"Ah, but there's a better place to find a few more complicit people," Aira thought. "What was her name? Tara? Yes… Tara, I'm coming."
***
With all her current boosts that truly went overboard thanks to Aira's almost indefinite source of energy, it took only a couple of minutes to get to the Town Hall square. The building loomed ominously, exactly as Aira remembered it from her early days in Mountain View. It stood higher than many of the nearby buildings. And one more distinguishing feature was that plenty of windows were lit by light.
"So, they reported the incident at the wall," Aira thought. "And maybe the incident in the prison. If there were people left alive to report it."
At the entrance, there were a few more guards than usual. So, probably, the people in charge knew there was some strange commotion within the walls.
"That wouldn't be enough," thought Aira. "I'm not sure what would be enough."
A loud bang sounded from her side. Aira was so focused on the guards before the town hall that she didn't notice a few people lurking on the roofs. Before Aira could react, more shots were fired, hitting Aira in her right arm.
She stumbled, the impact breaking her resolved pace. And reacted momentarily, blanketing the square with her power.
Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight.
Aira stepped over the withered bodies of the guards that protected the doors of the Town Hall. Where would she find Tara? The Council Hall? It didn't really matter. She only had to find two more guards or rangers.
Luckily, the memories of her multiple walks through this building burnt the route to the council hall permanently into her memory. It didn't take long for her to reach the heavy wooden double doors that opened to the hall.
And there were human energy signatures within.
With her current level of agility and endurance, Aira didn't even need to do anything special with the door. She just kicked it in, revealing a few rangers gathered around a tall woman. They were probably the best people the Elder could gather around her. But even they couldn't hide their fear after they witnessed Aira's spectacular entrance and saw the literal fire in the eyes of the undead.
Eighty-nine. Ninety-two. Ninety-five points…
Points…
"Stop, Aira, stop!" she thought. "Is it even you? Since when did human lives become just points for you?"
She looked around, estimating the damages she caused. Unlike her old experiences, her attacks were entirely focused on the humans. And with the exception of the grand doors, everything else seemed to be intact.
"That's enough, that's plenty," she thought. "You can go back to Lila now. But what would she think about the price you had to pay for her transformation?"
Aira checked her status.
--- Current Status ---
Health: 572/572
Mana: ???/???
SP Used: 67,150
SP Available: 1,535
XP: 68,685,500 / 71,283,000 (Next Level: 102, Legendary)
"Arrrrgh!" she roared, looking at the single woman standing in front of Aira. "Not enough! I guess it isn't always a thousand XP for a kill."
The woman was saying something. To her credit, she wasn't showing fear, only resolve.
"…you have to understand, we had to protect our people," Tara said. "We did it for the future of our community. The danger Lila brought in. And the tech we could get from the ancient facility. That would have ensured our fates for generations to come."
Tara squared her shoulders, stepping forward over the bodies of her guards. Her voice was steady, though her hands betrayed a slight tremor. "You think this was easy?" she said, meeting Aira's blazing gaze. "I know you understand me. Everything we've done was to protect what little we have left. If that makes us monsters, so be it."
Aira didn't care anymore whether people understood her or not. She just growled her words as best as she could. "So, it was all for the gadgets?" she shouted, making Tara step back even if the woman didn't understand Aira's speech. "Lila would have given you all the gadgets if you decided to leave her in peace. She also cared for the humans."
Not wanting to argue anymore, Aira focused on the final enemy she had left in Mountain View. She did this so many times today that the sensation of arcane power channeling through her body and even her soul became habitual.
The burst of energy was so powerful that tiny lightnings covered Tara's body for a few more seconds even after she dropped dead on the floor.
Aira sensed more people running toward the Council Hall. But she didn't care about any of them anymore.
--- Current Status ---
Health: 572/572
Mana: ???/???
SP Used: 67,150
SP Available: 1,536
XP: 68,686,000 / 71,283,000 (Next Level: 102, Legendary)
On the spot, she sifted all the skill points she had accumulated into upgrading the skill. Aira's hands trembled as she imagined the process—how the energy would coil, twist, and reshape Lila's essence into something new.
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