The port of Green Oasis is a bustling place of commerce and trade where anything can be found. If you can’t find it there, then you can find it in the bazaar. Ancient books, mana gems, mana-infused materials, craft goods, leather, meat, food, information, etcetera.
You can also find a horde of pickpockets, thieves and thugs with eyes on the money of inexperienced travelers. Some are greedy cutthroats, with only eyes for their own gain. Others, on the other hand, are like the legendary Desert Ranger, carrying her big iron for justice and the welfare of all sapient species. That sort of thing. Being generous with your money is a way to stave off the noble rouges, and gain a potential ally in dire straits.
Though, of all the things to be wary of, the normal population is at the top of the list. If you have ever met an orc without regulatory Traits, you should know why. Luckily, fights are unlikely to occur outside of Bash Lane, so you should be fine.
-Excerpt from ‘Traveling the World,’ By Gelnak
*=====*
Mori and Fara leaned on the railing of the Kharon as the zombies took down the Sand Scale flag from the ship’s mast. On the docks, a myriad of people went about their daily business. A merchant close to them sold expensive spices. A peddler on the far side of the wide wall-like dock sold various bottles of foriegn alcohol. Somewhere within the ocean of people, a few pickpockets sneakily stole the wallets of inattentive travelers .
The utter life and movement of the place made Mori sigh in delight, “I could sit here and watch this for hours…” she said aloud.
Fara turned from her own people watching and smiled, “I could too,” she said, “You know, I have to wonder. About you, I mean. You’re a lich, one of the most antisocial species on the face of Granulous, and you have no problem with being around people… It’s just not normal, is all,” she admitted.
“I get it,” Mori chuckled, “Being a lich is unique, with its own pitfalls. I mean, I haven’t even had a single hang-up with killing, sapient, sentient, or otherwise. It’s just… there. Our fight with the pirates… I think we should have tried to run.”
Fara cracked a small smile, “Obviously that would have been the safest option. Do you know why I went with it in the first place?”
Mori turned, “Why?”
“Because,” she began, “I think we knew we would win. Maybe it’s some sort of supernatural sense, but I could only think of a single way for us to completely lose. If we got hit by the cannons… well, that wouldn't be pretty.”
“It wouldn’t be, no. But what if you died? What they did… things… to you?” she spoke through a gritted jaw, “What then?”
She shrugged, “You’re a lich, aren’t you? You’d figure it out if it happened,” she said with total confidence.
“A lot of trust for someone you met less than a week ago,” Mori commented.
She laughed, “Of course it is. But, you gave your trust to me and Ma, so we may as well give you ours. Besides, you’re pretty interesting, all things considered. Speaking of interesting things… What did you choose as your new Traits? I’m pretty curious.”
Mori nervously looked around and, seeing no one watching them, leaned into her ear, “Something that I’m pretty sure has to do with the Death God’s domain. The last time I saw something like it, it had that note I was telling you about.”
“Telling me poorly,” she whispered back in good humor.
“Well explained,” she countered, “This is like that, but more active. I’ll quiet about it until we-”
“Or just you,” Fara interrupted. Mori glanced questioningly and Fara sighed, “Look, you’re the one who’s special. Not me. I’m just a young mechanic inventor runecrafter who wants to make a giant fortress. I doubt the Creators will want to meet with me.”
Mori stared at her for a long moment before a glint shone in her eye-fire, “It’s about the soul,” she said, “I can understand how it works.”
Fara’s eyes narrowed into daggers, “What’s your game here?”
Mori giggled, “If you know about it, then you’re not unimportant! They’ll meet with you too!” she laughed, “Anyway, how long has Unio been out for?”
Fara glanced over to the cabin, “For a few hours at least. Let’s go check up on him,” she said while walking towards the cabin, Mori quickly following behind her. Inside the upper cabin, a dining room of sorts with a stack of barrels in the corner, mostly empty of food. On a table to the side, Unio sat, splayed out and flat next to the hilja bug shells. As they walked up to him, they noticed how he had shrunken even more since the last time they had seen him. “He’s still asleep. Why don’t we-”
“Wait, he’s moving!” Mori shouted. Just as she spoke, the slime began to shudder violently, shaking the table with it. It vibrated, up and down, for a few seconds, sliding off the table to be caught by Mori. Just as she caught Unio, he tensed his body and stopped shaking. Mori looked down at the slime, into the crimson depths of his body as if trying to scry into his soul, “Hey little guy. You had a nice nap?” she asked in a motherly tone.
Unio reared up, seemingly looking at her, and nodded up and down, nestling into the crook of her metallic arm, “Looks like he’s definitely smarter,” Fara commented, “Hey little guy…” Unio turned its ‘head’ to her and leapt from Mori’s arms and into hers. He nestled into her bosom, purring like a cat, “He likes me more, then,” Fara said with a smirk.
Mori pouted, “Well, I don’t have such an ample chest hanging off of me. Of course he would like you more… Even though I created him…” she muttered.
Fara chuckled and plucked Unio from his spot, holding him up in the air like a cat, “Alright, little guy. Be nice to your ma and cuddle with her, alright? She’ll sulk if you don’t,” she commented. The slime nodded, leaping from her arms and into Mori’s.
She giggled and began to stroke his ‘head,’ getting a content purring noise from him. “Thanks, Fara,” she giggled, “He’s so cute… Alright, what do you want to do now?” she asked.
“What do I want to do?” she repeated, “Don’t we have to meet with the Creators?”
Mori shrugged, “We have to go around there if we want to claim our reward money anyway, so we could figure out what we need to change about the ship before we go and claim it. That’s my idea, anyway; it’s up to you.”
Fara seemed reluctant, but nodded nonetheless, “Alright then. I guess we can do all that before we go… First, though, I want to get a mod dock booked; I need a full view of the ship if I want to do anything with it.”
Mori nodded, “Alright then. I’m going to explore our new ship a bit more. And raise some undead. Maybe. Unio,” she said to the slime, “Do you want to choose your own Trait, or do you want me to?” she asked. As Fara left, Unio seemed to stare at her before poking her in the ribcage, “Alright then! In that case, you’re going to help me with something!” She hugged the slime as she chose [Organic Modification] and [Simulation] as Unio’s next Traits. The slime shuddered, shaking uncontrollably, and Mori tried to calm him down by rubbing his head and hugging him tightly.
After a few more minutes, Unio’s shuddering stopped, and he poked his head up, “Are you ready?” she asked, excited. The slime hopped up and down in her arms, jiggling in similar excitement, “Alright! The first order of business is to… well… we have to clean up the blood from the deck…” she said, her enthusiasm deflating. Unio hopped from her arms and she followed him out to the top deck. The large puddle of blood was still there, uncleaned, “Yeah, this one, huh?” she said aloud.
Unio shook his head, pointing to her left hand, “What are you… actually, this is the perfect time to test this out! Alright… How do I…” As she spoke aloud, she reactivated [Psychic Affinity III], letting the obsession course through her once more. She breathed a sigh of frustration at the intense itch in the back of her skull, demanding her to do something. Whatever that something was, she did not know.
After a moment, she thought about [Psychic Conduit], trying to reach out to Unio’s soul. At first, nothing happened, but as she tried harder and harder, she felt she was closer and closer to Connecting with him. Then it clicked.
A flood of emotion, thought, and memory flooded across the Connection, nearly drowning Mori in the sheer weight of it all. After a moment of struggle, she broke the Connection and fell backwards, “Ah… Unio, are you alright!?” she asked, panicked. The slime had deflated a small bit, but sprang up afterwards, hopping towards her and cuddling up to her. Her panic melted into thankfulness at his usual affection, “I’m sorry, little guy… I didn’t mean to hurt you…” she said, stroking his head. Unio pulled back, shaking his head and pointing to her, “Me?” He nodded, pointing to her skull. She giggled, “I’m alright, bud. I’ll be fine. I’m just worried about you. Do you mind if I try again?”
Unio jumped up and down, soon sitting in front of her with perfect stillness. Taking his lack of movement as agreement, she tried to create another Connection. Yet again, the flood of emotion nearly drowned her, forcing her to pull back once more. She stopped, taking a breath and trying for a third time. Instead of pushing with sheer strength, she tried to weave the Connection with slow, careful progress. Eventually, it clicked once more. She prepared herself for a flood of whatever made a soul, but it never came. Instead, it was a slow trickle. Emotions, just as strong as hers, slowly made themselves known. Then, images of a small, red slime and a skeleton with fire in her eye sockets. Finally, an image of her showering the bloodied deck with her mana.
The Connection grew silent after that, waiting for her response. Mori looked into the blood-red slime and nodded, sending a thought of understanding, returned with a thought of happiness. She returned the thought, standing and walking over to the pool of blood. Thinking for a moment, she wove a simple sigil on her spell stone in the palm of her gauntlet. It was simple, being a copy of her normal reanimation method but with an added component of air mana. The wave of combined mana seeped into the blood, making it ripple with new life. Suddenly, the blood exploded outwards, turning into a fine mist of blood that spread all around the Kharon. The mist did not stick to the deck, mast, or any other part of the ship, maintaining its place in the air. A moment later, it condensed into a vaguely ovoid shape, waiting.
Recollecting herself, she examined the mist with a critical eye while looking at her system message.
[You have created a mid-complexity undead with your natural death mana. A great amount of experience has been awarded.]
“A ‘mid-complexity,’ then. Hmm… I have a feeling that this is mostly based on the body types of the undead. A low-complexity undead is a chimera between mesa-dog and occupier while a mid-complexity is a creature made entirely of blood mist… Interesting, that is. Now then… what are you called?” she asked rhetorically as she pulled up the Minion Page.
[Cursed Blood: This creature is an undead entirely made up of blood. While almost entirely resistant to physical attacks, it can still be killed by separating the blood that makes up its body. Like all undead, it requires occasional mana to fuel its soul.]
[Cursed Blood Mist: Using blood as its medium, this creature is a mist with air-related mana fused with their blood upon its raising. Able to make its mist as thick or thin as possible, they are able to exist anywhere where air flows. Like all undead, it requires occasional mana to fuel its soul.]
“That’s pretty good…” Mori commented, “Alright, I’ll call you… hmm… Aretel? No… Areolat. That’s your name: Areolat. Now then. I need you to protect the skiff from thieves, intruders, or saboteurs —if we ever have any— and make sure nothing bad happens. Alright?” The condensed mist, in lieu of answering, disappeared from its place, spreading out across the ship and becoming almost undetectable.
Mori nodded to herself, beckoning Unio to her, “Next on the to-do list: explore the ship and figure out where those stupid zombies put the corpses…” She entered the cabin, the relatively small dining space, and descended into the first floor. It was made up of a long hallway, rooms lining the sides.
In the end, the whole process was incredibly boring, with most of the rooms being either bare of any furniture or with hammocks or cots hanging from the walls, ceiling, or posts welded into the floor. The only ones of interest were the barrack closest to the stairs and the captain’s quarters. The barrack was filled with real beds, had tables and other furniture, and had footlockers at the end of each bed.
The only thing of note inside the footlockers was some meager savings funds or other personal effects. Some had books that looked as if they had gone to hell and back, others had lockets much the same. The only thing that caught her attention was a single book at the foot of a bed in the far corner of the room, titled ‘Many Mana Types Vol. I.’ She snatched the book and skimmed through it, finding many things she wanted to experiment with later. With the book under her arm, she entered the captain's quarters and was immediately annoyed.
While his men were sleeping in hammocks or on the ground, he was living large in his room. A queen sized bed, the mattress of which Mori would dispose of as soon as possible, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser, a mirror, a wardrobe, an end table, and five different chairs were around the room, all decorated with fine silk and cushions. It did not take much effort to find his hidden stash of chips and treasures. In a large box hidden under the bed, a stash of over 7000 chips and various gems were hidden, almost dusty from how little they were touched.
With an angry growl, she stormed out of the room, ready to search the skiff. Before she got far, Unio wrapped himself around her ankles and held firm, “What.” He did not move, “I… Alright, I get it. Calm down, you say. He’s dead… a favor to the world,” she spat with venom, “Fine… I’m calm. Now come on, I want to unwind a little with a bit of necromancy.” Unio jumped onto her shoulder, snuggling against her head, “Thanks, little buddy…”
