Whispers of a Dead Empire

Let me know if you see anything odd, my editor glitched out and I think I caught most of the errors 

I teleported to the secluded part of the forest that Alessia was training in and sat in a far corner, underneath the shade of a few trees. She was quietly running them through drills, and I observed them quietly. I still don’t understand how they communicate. It was just silent talking. She would cast a glare at one of them and, for a few seconds, stare before moving away. I have to give it to her. For an undead who wasn’t sapient, she was very precise and intelligent. I marveled at the fact that all the undead that surrounded her were drilling the same movements over and over.

She was really working on passing down skills to the undead. It made me wish I could see the skills they had in their class so far. On the other hand, I had a few skill slots open, so maybe I should see if I could get some bosses' skills. I rested against the trees and placed the pole-axe against the tree trunk, and crossed my arms.

So much to decide on and such little time to do it. What kind of side skills did I want to learn? I think being a close combat fighter like Aaron would be fun. Sadly, however, I lost my access to mana, so I can’t learn any magic. But I have my soul class, which is pretty much magic in its own regard.

I thought back to watching Aaron move around the zombie in his fight. It would be so fucking cool to do something like that, but that means I would have to learn how to use my Ki. Then, I would have to check with Kharon and go from there. My eyes wandered towards the sky, which was turning dark. The two moons dimly lit the ground, the grey fog that clung to everything around us.

An uncountable number of stars splattered across the sky and twinkled happily in the distance. I knew it was fake, and it was by my doing. But it didn’t detract from how beautiful it was. I took a deep breath through my nose and basked in the musky scent of the forest. The air was wet and heavy, and I could smell saltiness in the air akin to rain. It was amazing how real this all was. I mean, it was real, but knowing that I crafted this all was just awe-inspiring.

I stared at the sky for a little while before I turned my attention back towards the formation of undead, only to find them all on a knee before me. They were all in a square formation and had their heads facing down and an arm across their chest. Alessia was the only one standing, though she was giving me a deep bow. What brought this on? Was it that grey light that came from Rikard? There was so much that I didn’t know.

I cleared my throat and grabbed the poleaxe that was resting against the tree. It was a little hefty, but it wasn’t for me to use, however. “Alessia Veers. You are my champion and defender of myself. Take this weapon as a symbol of your position.” I extended the weapon towards her. She gripped the pole-axe and gazed at it for a moment, and a strange light filled her eyes for a moment before it vanished.

I pulled around my bag and pulled out the mace. “And for your last weapon, take this mace. For when the poleaxe fails, you still may serve your duty. Remember, Alessia, you serve a job far more important than anyone else, for you are the last line of defense. The only thing that I ask of you is to remember that no matter what. You belong to me and me alone. So serve my will well.” I extended the mace, and she took it.

Her eyes lit up again and became more lifelike, and she opened her mouth. A glitter of excitement coiled around in my chest. Was she finally sapient? Her mouth moved, and a look of confusion crossed her face, and she reached out and touched her lips. I was a little disappointed, but at least she attempted to talk. “Serve me well, Alessia.” I gave her a nod and teleported out towards Kharon. I wanted to stick around and be all bubbly about Alessia being able to talk, but I’m trying to keep appearances up around the rest of the undead.

No matter how much I did it, the act of teleporting felt strange. It left me feeling slightly nauseous and off, but it beat having to walk around to each location. Especially once this place gets bigger. My feet hit the ground, and immediately I heard the familiar sound of a violin playing. Damn, Kharon picks up on things quickly. I shot a glance towards my notifications and saw that he hadn’t replied yet.

I pushed through the thin foliage and towards the sound of the violin. Once I got through everything I saw, Kharon was standing on the rock and was playing a soft melody that held a twinge of sadness. All around him were long, winding streams of ice blue energy that moved in rhythm with the sound. The sound changed from its slow, soft melody into something more rushed and intense. His bow deftly danced across the strings, and the surrounding energy shifted and into long streams of glowing red fire.

It danced around him in a vibrant display of power and shot out in scything arcs. I wasn’t sure how he was directing them, but they were accurate. They would change into spikes and hammer into a tree, one after another. The wood fragments caught on fire as the trees exploded into thousands of pieces. The flames would whip around and return to the skeletal maestro and dance around him once more as he played his tune.

So this was the power of a Maestro. It was awe-inspiring, really. The way the surrounding magic followed his songs as he directed a song of death.

His song changed once into something far softer. One that strummed along with my heart and brought me some peace. It was like I was sitting on a beach and letting the water lap at my feet without a care in the world.

The raging streams of fire morphed into ocean blue streams and rained down, quenching the fire that sought to consume the surrounding forest. I closed my eyes are the streams of energy shot into the sky, and a torrent of rain followed shortly after. The water beat into my exposed flesh, and I relished the feeling of the falling water. I really missed taking showers.

“Oh, hello mistress, I didn’t see you there.” I opened my eyes and saw Kharon staring at me. His scarlet red eyes shone out from under his cloak like vibrant rubies.

“Hello, Kharon. You looked like you were enjoying yourself, and I didn’t want to disturb you.” I walked over to a small boulder and sat down on it. I was already soaked, so what was a little more water going to hurt?

“I was. This is a fantastic instrument. The way it lets me direct magic is phenomenal.” He nodded his head and placed the violin into his cloak, and propped himself against one of the few trees that avoided the onslaught of magical energy.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty sounding one. I want to make a better one for you, but I will work on that once I get some better material. But anyway, I stopped by to ask a few questions.” I crossed my legs and sat back on my arms. The boulder was a little comfier than I thought it would be.

“I see. I appreciate the thought.” His eyes dulled for a second, and he clacked his teeth. “Ah, I missed a few things. I am sorry, mistress. I got distracted. Give me a second to catch up.” He mumbled to himself, and I nodded my head and waited for him to catch up.

“Ah, you unlocked a trait for the domain.” His eyes lit up once more, and I nodded my head.

“Yes. I gave Rikard a blade, and strange energy came from him, and then I saw I altered a trait. What is that about?”

“Well, usually you see domain traits once your domain opens. Sadly, however, I don’t have the power to unlock that for you until your domain opens. I can tell you it’s a collective faith trait. Because of this being a domain, all of the undead are connected through a physic tether. When a majority of them believe in something, it affects all the undead in the domain. In your case, they slowly realize the story you are creating, and it's slowly eroding their current memories and replacing them.”

I quietly listened as he explained the trait to me. Then, finally, I understood what he was saying. The whole collective will change to resemble the faith that’s placed in it. It was all so surreal, honestly. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s happening. “Thank you, Kharon, for explaining that to me. My next question is, how do the undead talk to each other? I see Aaron has been trying to talk to me, and I haven’t been able to understand him.”

He nodded his head and pulled his hood back, revealing his bone-white skeleton. “It’s mostly just an undead thing. You won’t be able to understand them since you are not undead yourself. As for Aaron, it's just a skeleton thing. If you want, I can translate for you.”

“That would be lovely, thank you. I decided I wanted to learn some skills from the other bosses so I can expand my class a bit.”

“Ah, yes, I can translate what they say. All the bosses do talk a lot amongst themselves. Rikard just doesn’t have good vocal cords. Alessia, I don’t know why she doesn’t talk.” I bobbed my head as I listened along. It all made some sense.

“Are they sapient then?” The thought sent shivers of excitement through me. Maybe I wouldn’t be as lonely as I was before. It would be nice to have people who I could talk to.

“Not so much as you would think. Looking at my log, the closest you have would be Alessia and Rikard. They are both very close to awakening. On the other hand, Aaron is just a battle junky, so I’m not sure about him. But, he may come around soon enough.” I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at that statement. I just wanted some people I could talk to.

“Thank you, Kharon, for your help. Would you mind accompanying me then? I want to get some training done and learn some more skills.”

He nodded his head and pulled his hood back over his head. “Your wish is my command.”

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