June’s sight and physical awareness returned, and she drew a deep, steadying breath. “I guess this is just going to be a thing now...” The haunting image of being buried alive rang within her mind, leaving a trail of anxiety and fear.
The chamber was just as she had left it. Right down to Kotor in the corner. The tiny ember was lounging against the wall, his orange eyelids closed. “Is he really sleeping?” June asked herself, wondering if he was planning some chaotic endeavor. The prospect, strangely, brought about a sense of normalcy. The shadows at the edges of the chamber danced against the soft light of the candle on her desk. Occasional hisses and pops from the Fire Imp lounging on the floor broke the silence of the chamber.
Thinking through what she had seen, June jolted into action. Searching through her pile of tomes, she found the history book she wanted. Opening it, she began to read after plopping down on her crude bed. A passage within the book’s middle section caught her eye. There were constant mentions of “Greens” and “Reds” spread all throughout. Instead of green armor and dragons, she learned the titles were the names of two factions. The book’s author spun a tale of heroic struggles between two noble factions of the hitherto unknown Kurano Empire. A picture formed in her head, one of epic fantasy wars and the titanic struggles of a dying empire. The Rainbow Dances, as they were called, characterized that period in Duneria’s history.
“Nothing like this was in the MMO. The lore was all about the current world.” She recalled the storyline of the MMO, telling of an ongoing conflict between the Kuul’zan Dynasty and the Viller Republic. Could there be some connection? There were plenty of magical trappings around dragon blood and other fantasy tropes, but this world had a lot more depth to it.
As she read further, she had her answer.
The Dynasty and its legacy of recklessness had pushed the Guilds and their noble allies too far. And so in 201 A.S. the High Kings decreed to take the Empire to war. We can trace the founding of the great modern empires back to this moment.[...]For in the great war that followed, fortunes rose, and the last of the great Emerald Emperors fell. Even then, centuries after the Schism, the magic of the land was a prime cause of strife and chaos.
—Chronicles of Duneria, a History of Empires and Kings
June sat in silence for a few minutes, pondering what she had just learned. She was still no closer to understanding her vision, but now she faced the quandary of her increasingly obvious ignorance of the world around her. Thinking of the undead mentors she had access to, June tried to form a plan. “Should I tell them anything?” June reasoned. “They’ll probably have nothing good to add,” she opined, reminded of the cryptic nonsense they had consistently fed her. So far, her intent to survive had served June well, despite the combination of compulsion and mystery surrounding her time here.
“I don’t really have a choice.” She said, talking to no one. “These weirdoes aren’t much help, but they’re all I have. They’re not just going to dump me out in the woods, at least I hope not.”
Patience and acceptance had been her friends until now, why stop, she decided. June paced the room, continuing to skim the text. It spoke more of this mysterious Schism and the resulting chaos that followed. Apparently, the Schism was a cataclysmic conflict that put an end to the preceding Age of Strife. This text itself had few details, focusing on dry retellings of the macro-socioeconomic decisions of kings and nobility during the era. Best June could tell, it was an era of upheaval defined by a complete lack of stability. Though the retelling in this text was lacking, her mind spun with possibility. June knew that she would be given more asinine tasks in the days to come. But at the very least, she would be able to learn more about the world.
Shaken out of her thoughts, June could hear a loud clatter from within the forge room. A shout from Bullin echoed off the dusty stones, calling her out of her room. June paused before leaving. She glanced down at the fire imp, “I guess I should take him with me so I can at least keep an eye on him,” she thought.
The living ember was still sitting on the floor, eyes closed, humming a hushed tune. Desperately, she hoped that their previous talk had stuck. “Could you go into the gem today?” June asked Kotor as he swayed back and forth cheerily.
“I guess, as long as you promise to let me come out later,” he said glumly.
You are reading story Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? at novel35.com
June crept into the forge chamber, hoping to avoid notice, unsure if Bullin was still angry about the mess from yesterday.
Bullin looked up from his work on the enchanting bench, a lazy smile crossed his lips. She could see a glimpse of rotted teeth between dark blue lips.
“Hey bud...” June asked shakily. He didn’t respond.
Bullin was busily grinding something within a mortar and pestle. On the table in front of him sat a mix of fresh pieces of parchment. Yellowed vellum and other materials were arranged in small piles. As June got closer, she saw he was grinding some kind of black substance within the bowl.
“What’s all this for?” June asked as she looked at the various sheets. All of them were blank.
Bullin kept grinding for a beat, before speaking, “I’m going to teach you how to make spell scrolls,” he said, inspecting the thick black substance inside the stone mortar. “This is the most difficult part of all this. All that fiddlin’ with mana and spells, it was for this.” His beady black eyes bored into the skeleton, his features were stone-like. “This is the last thing I’m able to teach you until you get sent out of here.”
“Wait, really?” June nearly shouted as she responded to Bullin’s revelation. “I’m finally going to get to leave this dump?” she asked.
“Hold on there, fella,” Bullin spoke in a more animated tone, setting the mortar aside. “We still have a few things to teach you, then I’m going to escort you to your first proper mission.”
“Well, a chaperone won’t be all bad, I’ll be able to get some chances to learn about this world first-hand, at least.” June realized. June pictured finally being able to see the world around her and outside this musky hole in the swamp. Despite her fantasy, the sour mood of the surrounding forge returned with a forced cough from Bullin.
In the moments that June had been pondering, Bullin completed the item he had been working on. “Catch, you’re going to need that,” the dwarf said as he tossed a small black lump to June. She missed the prompting, and as bumbling hands failed to grab the item, a new status window popped up in June’s face.
Quest Completed!
Obtain at least one Mana-Rich Wood for Bullin.
Reward: Teleportation Rune Key
You can find story with these keywords: Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun?, Read Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun?, Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? novel, Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? book, Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? story, Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? full, Life’s a Lich: Who Said Undeath Was Fun? Latest Chapter