Cyberserk & Vampiress

Stealing Souls

Tom used a weak spell of healing magic.

[Healing. School of Water Magic.

Level: 10.

Required level: 10

Requirement: None.

Restores 10 health points.

Cost: 3 mana points.

Cooldown: 1 second]

As an aristocrat, Dan gained access to the spells of the Tower of the Mages. Each spell was worth 1000 gold coins. Friends had already realized that any skill had this initial price. Such a sum was fully in line with the quality of Grossroads' combat and magic skills. The power of an attack using the Cut of Kornelius skill was twenty times the power of any skill the game offered a person.

Dan gained access to the new skills when he reached level 12. He saw that he could acquire new abilities and it would only be worth the waste of experience points. Combat skills didn't excite Dan's interest. Plus, he had a ring on his finger that required a huge amount of experience points to develop.

"The first thing we're interested in is what you called the Oath of Everlasting Service. Where is the guarantee that you won't break the oath? I don't take your word for it and I am sure you will try to break the oath and destroy us for the insult you have caused," Tom said and continued to heal the dragon.

"The oath has ancient foundations and it is inviolable because it is tied to the ritual of creating a soul sanctuary," replied the dragon, who was amused by the thoughts of the little noxious creature.

"But where is the guarantee? And what is a Soul Sanctuary? I understand that you are capable of creating this Sanctuary with skill and wisdom. Would it be an artifact?" Tom began to guess at the essence of the treaty. In the unbreakable oath, he believed. The magic of this world could enforce any treaty.

"You are part of this world and you cannot violate the foundations of this world. The oath of service is unbreakable. I make no secret of my interest in finding freedom when the time comes for it. You are right and I can create a powerful object that will serve as a Sanctuary for my soul. The mage would be able to summon me when necessary and I would receive a temporary incarnation to fulfill my duties as an ally," Lord of Fear

grinned and his mouth gnawed with menacing fangs. "I do not wish to waste my time and cannot answer the question of what Sanctuary is. You are incapable of understanding the meaning of my rituals. You are not of the dragon kind." 

"I am of the Phantom kind. It pleases me to call myself Tom of the Abyss. An unbreakable oath is an understandable thing. Forgive my petty stupidity. What will the object artifact look like? My master has my complexion. He's not as big as you," the clone moved on to more interesting questions.

"I am willing to listen to suggestions. The materials for the Sanctuary will be my flesh and magic. The type and size of the object are of no importance to me," the dragon felt his body fully recovered from its damage. But he had no intention of disrupting the negotiations. The mage was a formidable and deadly foe. The opportunity to escape this place was pleasing to the ancient beast.

"Amulet or new ring? Dan, what do you want?" Tom shouted toward the exit of the hall.

"The ring is handy. Any artifact can be removed from the equipment," shouted back Dan, who could hear the conversation between the two creatures. "I want a ring like Precious! Don't go wrong with the characteristics. Dear Lord of Fear, please excuse me for not trusting you and not being present."

"That is not necessary. Cautiousness commands respect. I understand you," growled the Lord of Fear. "Don't waste your magical powers. I am completely healed now. What do you want from the ritual?"

"A ring-like object to put on a finger-like this," the phantom extended his hand and showed his fingers to the dragon. "Let's talk about the properties of the artifact. First and most important. The mage gains the ability to summon you into service. The summoning is always limited by conditions. How often can you be summoned? For how long is the summoning intended? In what capacity are you able to appear in the world?"

"It is possible to make a ring. I agree to one summons within twenty-four hours. If I die my call ends. I will be able to incarnate in the body you see now. The loss of a tiny part of my flesh does not matter. I will retain my abilities."

"Accepted!" Dan gave a loud shout of agreement. "What additional properties will the artifact give me?"

"I have no particular desire for my soul to come into the possession of another being. I have an interest in you being a strong enough ally. I can strengthen the Sanctuary with additional properties. What are you interested in?" Lord of Fear looked toward the exit.

"For starters, we are interested in being able to increase the powers. We call powers attributes and each person has four basic attributes," Tom began to express his desires.

"I see your qualities, swordsman, and blacksmith with a little title and a funny name. Do you understand that you are summoning me to engage in the obscene magic of Necromancy and the loathsome part of Soul magic? A magician will be primarily responsible to the world for his deeds. But you, too, the warrior without memory, have already darkened your postmortem. Humans, are you still interested in playing these games?"

Dan knew what fantastic Necromancy was and was able to understand the presence of Soul magic in this world. This was the first time he knew that the ring carried some kind of threat to him. And it excited him seriously. Dan Raven quickly applied the sacrifice spell to the hobbits. He didn't want these guys listening to the conversation continue.

"Lord of Fear, I ask for your attention. I am using an artifact that increases my strength, speed, intelligence, and body. To do so, I fill the artifact with experience for slain creatures of the world. You warn me that my occupation is obscene Necromancy and a disgusting part of Soul magic. By my actions, am I harming my postmortem?" Dan asked a very serious question.

"Of course, mage, you are responsible to the world for your deeds. Everything you have and have not done matters. The experience of killing a creature is a concentrated part of the soul of the murdered creature. The world is simple and seeks to develop. You have the right to seek development and challenge the forces of the world. All is fair. Your death will strengthen your enemy. Your enemy's death strengthens you. But there is a f*******n area of Death and Soul that is best not violated. You take from the world its share of experience. Every time you replenish your artifact you deprive the world of its prey and power. The punishment for this act is simple. Every creature of the world has life and death and revival. All have their peculiarities. But you risk increasing your postmortem many times over! Today you spend one moment to be revived. You'll waste more time on a new revival if you continue with your filthy methods of development," the dragon ended his brief lecture on the basics of existence. It pleased him to show his wisdom to this funny and naive human.

"What do you think, Tom? I've realized something, and I don't like the prospect of being revived for a long time. I don't like the subject. It's kind of unpleasant and even disgusting. Ugh! I never liked playing as a Necromancer," Dan took off his combat gauntlet and looked suspiciously at the ring, which turned out to be a creepy and insidious gift of fate. This precious thing, too, had better be thrown into the mouth of a volcano or hidden in a safe place.

"Dragon, you said that I, too, suffer from participation in this affair. How dangerous is it for me?" Tom was interested in this part of the conversation.

"I am not the creator of the world to judge your deeds, Phantom. I have no interest in you. You're a messenger, a mage sent you, and I won't answer unnecessary questions. It is not difficult for me to apply some of my knowledge to create a property for the artifact to use the souls of slain opponents. As the creator of the artifact, I will receive a penalty as a maker. Questions of my craftsmanship are none of your concern. But I refuse to feed on the souls of defeated creatures. In other words, my body and my properties will not increase with time. I am strong enough and do not need unrighteous amplification."

The dragon snorted and it was a display of mockery.

"We'll look at you when we face monsters seven times your power, dragon," smiled the phantom. "Dan, did you notice anything strange during the last rebirth? Did your rebirth time increase? Were you reborn quickly?"

"Is that when I let the rabbits kill me to lower my level from 19 to 10? I didn't notice anything strange at all. Normal standard revival. I didn't look at my watch while I was running from the Temple to the woods at the walls of Grossroads. Koreima ruined a few breakfasts for me later with her moralizing and forbidding me to die often," Raven shook his head. "Tom, it could be nastier and simpler than that. There is a concept of Qualitative Change. Suppose I now summon a penalty and at level 50 the ring will result in a manifestation of punishment. Let's assume that I can only revive after 50 hours. That's an unpleasant thought that just occurred to me."

"Thank you for your warning, Lord of Fear," the phantom bowed to the dragon who gave ample information for thought and concern.

"I accept the thanks. Consider my words as payment for your help in my healing," laughed the dragon. "Mage, what have you decided? Do you want to keep stealing souls from the world?"