While everyone got ready for the day I stared numbly at my newest title. 

 

[Death’s Enlightenment] 

You have understood the importance of balance just as death feeds into new life. A beginning cannot exist without an end. Creation cannot exist without destruction. Because of this, you have learned to circumvent your destruction. When your physical form is destroyed you instead embody your soul, existing as an ethereal being while retaining your identity. While in this form you are a ghost, unable to physically interact with the world around you though able to use your skills to some degree. Using an enormous amount of soul embers you may create a new body for yourself and inhabit it, returning to the physical world wherever you are.

 

I was level five and immortal immortal. And I so wished I wasn't. What it sounded like to me was that when I died I didn't get to move on or whatever, instead I got to watch the world continue on without me as a ghost while I ran around looking for soul embers until I could revive myself. It seemed like a nightmare. A fate worse than death. I was glad to be on the same page as the others but I saw no upside to this and it didn't seem to be something I could opt out of. I was fucking cursed unless I found something that could destroy my soul.

 

“Hold Still!” Jackal groaned as he tried to cut away the Order’s emblem from Nimue’s attire. It wasn't going well. Tiss was taking stock of what we had before we went shopping. Jackal had suggested we register with the Adventurer’s Guild however that had seemed like a risky move and I didn't feel like doing quests for Llyne.

 

Tiss hadn't had any better ideas so eventually, they agreed to heading West though they seemed nervous. Apparently, the Wildlands were not like the wild parts of Slofannil. Sure you could get dire wolves or other monsters around here but they seemed to gather in the Wildlands in a way they didn't anywhere else. Plus the area was generally uninhabitable with thick jungles, rocky mountains and even allegedly a desert somewhere. For someone undead, it actually sounded kind of awesome, for the living though… not so much.

 

Still, if we wanted to start creating some kind of settlement or home base we needed it somewhere the Order wouldn't see. I hadn't the first clue about building a home especially not in the jungles or mountains but I was confident in us. 

 

There were also apparently several smaller towns in between us and the Wildlands and it would be a long journey. In my mind that was in our favour, we all needed to get stronger if we were going to carve out a safe haven. Plus I was more than eager to run into a certain thieves guild, Venomthorn. According to Tiss they had their fingers in crime all across Sloffanil but made most of their money from slaves. Apparently, Lord Humphry worked with some shady people. I was really proud of his execution.

 

Before panicking about my title, I had been planning, trying to come up with what we needed to survive the wildlands. I had only had limited success. All I had written down so far, thankfully with an enchanted quill someone had snagged from Cleo’s hideaway, was ‘safety = palisade + ditch’ followed by a lot of underlines.

 

Thankfully my undead didn't need food, water or even really shelter. So all our resources could go to Tiss and Jackal. Undead didn't get tired which would give us a good labour force though I had no idea how to build anything that would be structurally sound.

 

“Do either of you have any engineering experience?” I asked.

 

“Nope,” Jackal replied. “But I’m really good at chopping wood. It’s what I did before…”

 

“Humphry?” I guessed.

 

“Yeah,” he replied.

 

“We don't need to build a city,” Tiss added. “A small camp would be enough, just something to start from. Some books would probably be helpful.”

 

I nodded, I couldn't believe we were planning on building something in the most dangerous part of the world. And that it had been my idea. But the more I thought about it the more I realized Tiss had been right. I couldn't take out Llyne alone let alone the entire kingdom, I needed help and needed to prepare. Innocents and those we freed could come with us as Tiss had pointed out. She did a good job of countering my murderous urges. She was weirdly fine with the undead thing, granted Jackal only seemed repulsed by the zombies. He was fine with me and Nimue. I guess when you rescue someone twice they begin to trust you.

 

“You sure you two want to come? The market is in full swing right now,” I said as I put on my hat. “Nimue and I can handle it.

 

“I wanna go,” Tiss replied. “And if need be we can pretend to be yours.”

 

I grimaced, I really didn't like that idea. But we really needed clothes for both of them. Hell, I needed clothes as well. Tiss also had that collar which I wanted to get off her as soon as possible.

 

I used [Call of the Mistress] to check in with the zombies posted outside. I was looking forward to getting more soul embers so I could begin to repair them.

 

“We have a problem,” I winced when only the pyromancer responded. I didn't have an active connection to my independent undead like I did with the skeletons I animated through magic but no response to my skill meant either those two zombies were too far away or… destroyed.

 

“What?” Tiss asked.

 

“Two zombies are gone,” I explained, slipping my sword on and waving them after me as I left. I hurried down the stairs and out onto the street. Two Order guards carried a stretcher down the street as I stepped out of the inn. I mentally cursed and absorbed the soul embers from the freshly dead corpse. Keeping so many zombies around was becoming a problem.

 

“Oh gods,” Jackal swore, halting beside me.

 

I rubbed my face. This was my fault, I had told the zombies to defend themselves if attacked. Several more Order guards scurried around down the street where my zombies had been hiding in the alleyway.

 

I called out to the pyromancer, it was the only one I had given an order to to keep distance between it and its attacker. “C'mon let’s go to the market,” I told the small group and we headed for the eastern gate.

 

The pyromancer rejoined us on the way, slipping out from between two buildings. It was the most valuable so it was good to have it back.

 

“Ok, let’s pretend that didn’t happen. Where to start?” I asked as we approached the market.

 

“Well…” Tiss began, steeling herself, “bags, we need bags.”

 

Tiss and Jackal stuck close to us as we waded through the crowd with Nimue and the pyromancer at our flank. Tiss pointed at a merchant who sold clothing sausage bags entirely different from my leather one but able to hold a lot more.

 

Tiss seemed to shrink into herself the longer we stayed and I couldn’t have people paying too much attention to me which meant Jackal was appointed to negotiate the prices. Something he was surprisingly good at.

 

I reached down a hand and Tiss took it, allowing me to gently pull her to my side. She did not let go of my hand. 

 

Jackal handed over the money and returned with one small bag for Tiss, a medium-sized one for himself and four other large ones.

 

“For Nimue and y'know,” he explained with a wink. I was scared to ask how much all this had cost.

 

“Make way, make way!” A man yelled. We turned to see four Order guards clearing a path as a cart led by those weird bird things pulled through the gate. Several people cheered as the men on the cart raised their fists.

 

“What are those bird things?” I asked Jackal.

 

“Oh, the Idunics?” He replied giving me a curious look.

 

Thankfully a second cart, this one drawn by normal horses, pulled through the gate. The driver sat with the reins in front of a pile of giant wolf corpses. It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were dire wolves. They also were a free source of soul embers and my hand grew warm as I collected them.

 

I gave Tiss’ hand a reassuring squeeze but she had shut down. “C’mon,” I told the others leading us to the smithy.

 

A familiar hare-folk stood behind the counter. Their eyes widened when they recognized me. 

 

“Good morning, I need to get a collar off,” I said motioning to Tiss.

 

“Oh… let me fetch my master, one moment,” the hare said and scurried into the back. Anger bubbled suddenly they had said they were an apprentice but I hadn’t realized they were enslaved. 

 

I took a deep breath and crouched down beside Tiss, “You’re alright, you’re safe.”

 

“Yeah, the old bastard is dead,” Jackal added helpfully.

 

“Ruba says you need a collar removed,” an older human man said emerging from the back. He wore the large black apron of a blacksmith and looked generally singed.

 

“Yes,” I said standing up. The man waved us over as Rubs took their place at the counter with a nervous smile. I entered the back of the shop with Tiss and Nimue on my heels.

 

“Like let’s see it,” the man said, putting on a pair of fancy-looking goggles and crouching down beside Tiss. “Well isn’t she a pretty one,” he grinned at me.

 

I resisted the urge to strangle him, reminding myself that we needed to remove the collar. I gently placed a hand on Tiss’ shoulder to find her trembling. 

 

He grabbed Tiss’ face forcing her to show her neck. The blacksmith crumbled to the ground as Nimue buried her sword in his head. Tiss jolted and I took a step back from her as I collected the soul embers.

 

It had been rash but I wasn’t going to let him lay his filthy hands on her. “It’s alright Tiss,” I said, keeping my distance. Taking her here had been a poor decision. “Just breathe alright, you’re ok. I won’t let anyone hurt you,” I said sitting on the ground nearby and making sure to avoid the pool of blood.

 

It took a few minutes of coaxing until she seemed okay.

 

“I’m sorry,” I said.

 

“I-I’m ok,” she replied but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

 

“You are, you're safe,” I affirmed.

 

“Fetch Ruba would you?” I asked Nimue mentally who nodded, finished wiping her blade clean and headed towards the front.

 

Oh and gently, might I add!

 

Nimue was gently up until Ruba noticed the corpse and promptly froze. Nimue kind of shoved them after that.

 

“Sorry about the mess, he got a little too… rough, can you remove the collar?” I asked them.

 

“H-he's dead, y-you killed him,” Ruba sputtered.

 

“Yes, he's dead, now can you remove the collar or not?”

 

“Morgan,” Tiss said quietly but her meaning was clear.

 

“Please, we could really use your help. I promise we won't hurt you,” I continued.

 

“I can remove it, yes,” Ruba finally replied.

 

“Please do so then,” I said, offering a smile.

 

They nodded quickly and approached, glancing nervously at Nimue. They raised their hand to the collar and their fingers began to glow with intense heat. Tiss hissed painfully but it was only Ruba’s whispered ‘sorry’ that stopped me from ordering their death. Maybe I was getting a little too attached to Tiss.

 

“I leave you alone for two minutes,” Jackal huffed while walking over.

 

I rolled my eyes. “Nimue, how does your ability to animate zombies work?”

 

“I infuse my magic into them, as long as I exist, so do they but I can only control so many at a time,” she replied. Thankfully I got the hint to be subtle around listening leporid ears.

 

Her ability would be best for battle then. I supposed that was the power of a lich, creating independent undead. We would need a blacksmith. Probably several if I was going to outfit an army eventually.

 

“Thank you,” Tiss said as Ruba pulled the collar free from her neck.

 

Ruba turned back to me but I cut them off before they could say anything. “How would you like a job?”