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Ascension Of The Corpse God

In a far off universe, the Gods are struggling. The invasive Voro race are threatening to devour everything and everyone. To combat the threat, they create the Gift, a system given to the masses to grant them the strength to defend themselves. Meanwhile, in another universe, Nox is living a life of death and misery. Ostracised by society due to the trail of bodies that follows in his wake, he tries desperately to survive while dealing with his dark power. But when malicious undercurrents lead to Nox’s untimely demise, he comes to discover a new world that holds the potential to change his fate forever. It may even hold the secrets to his strange ability. Join Nox as he climbs the ranks and reaches the peak! *I'm currently aiming for 5/6 chapters/week but when university resumes, that's likely to decrease. Nevertheless, I'll be hoping for a minimum of 4 chapters/week. Once the novel progresses some more, I'll happily introduce bonus chapters for power stones and reviews if people are eager to see the next chapters* **Chapters are always minimum 2000 words long but often more like 2500** ***The cover art is not my property. It was made by @cleanfantasyart on Pinterest. If you are the owner and would like me to remove it, please get in contact. ***

BreathOfAdventure · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
25 Chs

Second Favour

"Let's take you home."

Leonard closed his eyes and outstretched his hands.

Slowly, the stream began to bubble animatedly until it began to rise into the air. The water gradually wrapped Nox's body in a thin, translucent capsule.

The old man took a final look around as he prepared to leave. Nearby, two more corpses lay silent.

The first was the pitiful Bull-Horse. It's body was covered in lacerations that dripped with an eerie green liquid. No part of its body was left intact. The beast's head was indented from the crash with one of its horns snapping off and lying sadly on the ground. Worse still, the steed's legs were gruesomely mangled, bent at unnatural and concerning angles.

The other corpse, Leonard recognised well. Rana.

Her body was in a much-similar state, covered in wounds by the zombies. While she managed to dodge many attacks at first with her excellent agility, when she began to tire, she quickly accrued several gashes as well.

Her corpse lay on its back, limbs sprawled out. Disturbingly, she had landed on a large boulder that collided with her back and caused her ribcage to rupture from her chest. The entire corpse was a bloody mess and emitted a foul odour.

Pinching his nose in disgust, Leonard decided to leave with Nox as quickly as possible. Ultimately, he had no attachment to the beasts and felt no need to bring them along. He was plenty tired already and could do without the extra baggage.

As Leonard made his first few steps towards the forest, however, things rapidly changed.

A bone-chilling pressure struck his body. In that moment, Leonard felt that he couldn't even breathe. He desperately gasped for breath; his back dripped unceasingly with sweat. His heart raced wildly, and his skin rose in goosebumps.

This feeling wasn't entirely new to Leonard. He had felt it once before. That icy, malicious power reminded him of that day.

When the Deathkin took his family. When he was completely helpless.

Death energy.

Before he could contemplate his situation any longer, the power seemed to condense into a thick, dark bolt that struck him squarely in the chest. His body was launched for hundreds of meters into the depths of the forest before it dispersed into a puddle of water.

With Leonard gone, Nox's body gently splashed back into the stream.

Silence reigned for several seconds as the attacker was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, however, a figure shrouded in darkness slowly approached Nox's body. With each step it took, the surrounding plants began to wither and die until only a pile of dust remained.

Despite being humanoid, the figure was anything but human. It had forgone mortal flesh for a skeletal body. Amidst a gloomy cloak and a veil of shadows, the abomination came to loom over the lonely corpse.

It reached its bony fingers towards the boy's face, stroking his cheeks tenderly.

"It seems Cain's information was true after all. This boy holds such delightful death energy. With such a feast, perhaps I might finally break the barrier after all this time" the figure's mouth did not move, and yet its voice seemed to emerge into the air by itself.

"With my new toy at home, and my new strength, hehehehehe" the voice trailed off.

After those words, the dark cloak enveloped the two of them in a separate, chilling world. The figure sat on the ground, cross-legged with Nox's head in his hands.

The being's bony fingers pointed like dangers into the sides of Nox's head. Around them, a malicious energy began to swirl and accumulate at the tips.

Meanwhile, the abomination's figure was fully revealed from within the shadows. Its body was nothing but bones seemingly held together by the same frightful energy. In the centre of its chest, a large radiant gemstone shone vibrantly. Within the crystal, a wizened old human man sat.

He donned a black robe with golden accents that covered his frail frame. His stature was short and hunched, his face wrinkled and decrepit. He clung desperately to a large black staff topped with a large raven with its wings outstretched. Ominously, his eyes appeared completely lifeless and void of any warmth.

"It was risky bringing my phylactery out here, but opportunities like this might not come even after several centuries. Fortune favours the bold after all" the figure monologued.

After a moment of pause, the figure plunged his fingers into Nox's corpse. Immediately, a tenebrous power spilled from the boy and flowed up the figure's limbs, towards the large crystal.

When the first of it reached, the skeletal man's head heaved backwards, his limbs shaking in euphoria.

"Ahhhhhhh, how incredible! Such pure death energy!" the figure relished in elation. The figure tossed and turned in joy for several seconds.

A few moments later, however, the skeletal figure seemed overcome with panic. The dark dome flickered constantly and threatened to vanish at any second.

"No! No! What is happening to me? MY PHYLACTERY!"

The being screeched in anguish and fury. The large crystal embedded in its chest appeared to slowly dull, the old man's image becoming vague and hazy.

Suddenly, a terrifying voice unnervingly whispered in the being's head,

"Big mistake."

Those words paralysed the figure completely. His body refused to move. His consciousness ceased to function. A crippling fear took over the being. It could only watch helplessly as the dark energy began to flow in reverse, back into Nox's corpse.

CRACK!

The crystal ruptured, the old man nowhere to be seen. The veil of shadows dissipated as the figure collapsed forward. As they collided with the ground, the bones scattered in all directions, looking little different from a normal human corpse.

Meanwhile, Nox's body began to surge with immense power. His closed eyelids shot open, showing two all-consuming abysses.

Nox's body, seemingly reanimated from the dead, slowly got to its feet and brushed off the water from its hair. His skin still appeared pale and gaunt, his figure still caked in wounds and dried blood. He looked like he had been thrown into the middle of a battlefield.

The body shook its head in disgruntlement before a low voice echoed into the air,

"Seriously kid, I manage to give you a second life and you last all of ten years? Couldn't you have tried a little harder?" the voice seemed exasperated.

The corpse crossed its arms and its head dropped low,

"Hmmm. I thought you would be alright until I had more time to recover but it looks like I was wrong. The information got leaked somehow. It must've been that little white-haired brat back then. Only he and your father sensed me." Nox's fingers tapped on his arm repeatedly.

"But to think they sent a Lich after you already. Rather premature. It seems like I need to hasten my schedule."

Closing his eyes, the consciousness delved deep within Nox's body. Slowly, his senses left the material plane, and entered the spiritual plane.

Here, an azure flame could be seen burning wildly. What had previously been but a feeble spark had grown larger and stronger. It blazed with power, tainted by a hint of an ominous energy. When the consciousness interacted with it, the flame did not shy away but burned even brighter. It appeared to glisten with indignation at being disturbed.

Opening his eyes, Nox's corpse smiled.

"Your soul has grown strong kid. All this death really does the soul wonders. I suppose housing me hasn't been so easy either. You are more than strong enough. Looks like I can accelerate things, though it might put me out of commission again for a while."

Stretching out his arms wide, Nox's body erupted with a malevolent energy. It was similar to darkness in many ways but it possessed an extra, primal element that made it especially horrifying.

The explosion of power caused a small puddle of water in the distance to stir. It slowly formed the feeble figure of an old man. A gaping hole tore through his abdomen from one side to the other. Mysteriously, any blood that threatened to leak out would abruptly change course and return to his body.

The old man watched the events with complete shock,

"What in the name of the Gods is happening?"

His eyes widened like saucers; his mouth hung low. He desperately wanted to investigate but his body refused to move. Even if he could move, he was in no condition to do anything. All he could do was pray as Nox's corpse seemed to come back to life.

As the tenebrous power seeped into the surroundings, all of the plants within fifty meters began to decay. The landscape was suddenly caked in a black dust whilst at the centre of it all, a transformation was taking place.

"Life begets death as death begets life" the low voice murmered.

Nox's previously lifeless body began to regain its healthy hue. The copious number of wounds on his body slowly stitched themself back together.

Suddenly, Nox's motionless heart began to beat thunderously.

The low voice echoed one last time,

"This is two you owe me now kid. Do not make it three."

Nox's body closed its eyes as the consciousness receded. The engulfing pressure faded.

With a loud gasp, Nox's eyes burst open. His eyes had returned to their normal dark hue and were filled with bewilderment. He fell to his knees as he panted for breath.

His head was a whirlwind of confusion. What had happened?

"The last thing I remember, I was staring up at the sky, and then everything went black. And there was a voice, maybe? I can't remember. Did I die?"

Nox's temples throbbed violently with pain.

He didn't have long to process his thoughts, however, as a sweet, feminine voice and a mental display suddenly emerged in his head.

[Gift Of The Gods Initializing]

A shooting pain bolted through his head and halted his thoughts. He had never felt any pain like this before. Even his pain resistance seemed to do nothing to prevent it. Nox could only writhe in agony on the ground for a second as he tried to supress a scream.

While Nox was temporarily incapacitated, the screen seemed to flash an ominous black for a few moments. The text on the display warped for a second before returning to normal.

[5%...]

[27%...]

[62%...]

[100%. Initiation Completed]

After a few seconds, the pain ended, leaving Nox to breathe haggardly, sprawled out on the floor.

With the pain receding, he finally had time to process the deafening announcement.

"The Gift? But I'm only ten? I still have two years to go! And I didn't even visit a temple yet! What the hell is happening?"

Leonard had drilled into him the finer details of the Gift countless times. His lessons were so repetitive and boring that he could practically hear the man's voice in his sleep.

During those lessons, Leonard made the significance of the age twelve very clear. It served two purposes.

Firstly, it gave individuals time to develop their natural abilities so that they could be assigned an appropriate class.

Secondly, the Gift takes a heavy burden on the wielder's soul. The Gods simplified it as much as possible but ultimately, no-one below twelve years old stood any chance of receiving the gift without imploding.

Obviously, those lessons could be taken with a grain of salt.

"Well, I don't know a lot about the soul, but it would make sense if it got stronger with age and experience. With my two lives, I definitely qualify. That still doesn't explain how I avoided going to a temple though."

The pilgrimage to a temple was the final step in receiving the Gift. The Gods would be accessible through the temples and could bestow its power upon you.

"Did a God intervene directly? But why? And how? None of this makes any sense."

Nox felt he could sit and puzzle over these questions forever. He certainly intended to, but not right now. Right now, there was more important things to do.

He had received the Gift, and he had to see it for himself. What class had he gotten? What were his attributes? Did he maybe have some special Skills?

Leonard had briefly mentioned that some specially gifted people were born with Skills that the Gift hadn't granted them. They were something of a worldwide anomaly. Anyone with them naturally had an advantage over others and thus distinguished themselves in various roles.

In extremely rare cases, people possessed Unique Skills. These Skills, as the name entailed, were unique to only one person in the whole universe. These Skills often had exceptional power and ensured that their owners were destined for great things.

Given his situation, he felt there was a very real possibility he might have some unique skills.

Just the thought was enough to make Nox brim with excitement. Wasting no more time, he called out in is mind, as Leonard had taught him,

"Status"

- - - - -

Elsewhere, in the forest.

Leonard stared at Nox's lively body with amazement.

He couldn't possibly understand. Just moments before, Nox was dead. Extremely dead. And now, he stood and breathed right in front of him.

With his strengthened body, Leonard could see Nox even from several hundred meters away. Meanwhile, Nox was entirely clueless he was here.

After breaking out of his revelry, Leonard wanted to head straight towards him and scold him. His old heart couldn't take such worries these days. Seeing Nox alive brought him much joy and relief.

And yet, something urged him to be cautious. Leonard had witnessed the whole situation. Nox's corpse suddenly arose after being in contact with the Lich. While everything appeared normal, he couldn't help but think that wishful thinking was getting to him.

How could Nox have just revived? How could he have killed a Lich? That was a Rank 7 being, a creature that could toy with him like he was nothing. What if the Lich had taken hold of Nox's body?

There were too many possibilities to be hasty. In the end caution won over haste.

He brought his hands into the air and closed his eyes in concentration. The puddle of water at his feet slowly morphed until it resembled a small bird with delicate blue feathers.

"Follow him. Make sure you aren't discovered at all costs."

The little bird nodded before flapping into the air and vanishing.

This was a calculated risk. A Lich might be able to sense his stealthy companion if it focussed its senses. Despite that, Leonard couldn't risk losing track of Nox.

With a final look of resignation, Leonard's body collapsed into a pool of water.

Chapter 15! Took a while but the Gift is finally here! Things are gonna get a lot more action packed from now on. Nox has been forced to be pretty passive so far but things will change now. As always, any feedback is massively appreciated and helps me know what everyone's opinions are. Many Thanks!

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