Chapter XII: Might & Magic (Bonus Chapter)
Firstly, I would like to apologize about a plot hole I unintentionally created in the previous chapter about the usage of the [Teardrop Amulet]'s [Summon Spirit] enchantment.
So, from this chapter on, just assume the memory uses its own essence reserve to sustain the enchantment. William in no way or form will use active enchantment on memories while he is a Sleeper.
(For those wondering, the [Magic] enchantment on the [Profane Grimoire] and the [Living Bone] enchantment on the [Osseous Exoarmor] are passive.)
I hope this clears some things.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
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"First thing a warrior must learn is how to wield his weapon," explained the spectral figure of Arthas Menethil while standing in a spacious room designed for solitary training.
Fortunately, such room were readily available for use since many Legacy Sleepers abhor training with the 'unwashed masses'. Still, he did get his fair share of weird looks by the admistration staff after he said that he would rather train by himself than do any of the recommended courses.
Well, HE was not going to be studying those courses but Jaina showed keen interest in the Wilderness Survival Courses. Later this day, she was going to be teaching him that in addition to his magic training.
Meanwhile, during the day, the ex-Lich King is going to teach him how to be less shitty with the sword.
"The essence of Frostmourne as a weapon is tyrannical, unrelenting assault. Never let your opponents relax for even a second. Break them before they break you. Completely dominate them," he continued and with each word his face twisted further into a grimace. It looked as if some unwanted memories resurfaced with his explanation. However, that lasted for only briefly before it passed.
In his hand, an ethereal copy of the mourneblade manifested; then, he started to do a series of moves consisting of wide swings, powerful thrusts, and intricate leg movement. With every step, he advanced. Every swing was precise and concise with no extra movement or flair. It was a simple and deadly dance that promised bloodshed and massacre to whoever was on the other side.
William watched intently, a part of his brain stirring in response to the movements, burning every motion into his memory. In a few short minutes, it was over. Arthas turned towards the young man, "Now, repeat what I just did."
The young Lich King summoned Frostmourne and, to the spectre's surprise, copied the exact movements as him perfectly - without the slightest deviation.
"How was it?"
"I thought you said that you didn't have formal training?" inquired the paladin his voice laden with suspicion.
"I didn't," the young man replied while shaking his head, " I just have [Eidetic Kinesthesia]."
"Eide-what?"
William rolled his eyes, "It just means that I can memorize and copy whatever technique or movement I see."
"So that's how it is....," a look understanding dawned upon him, before it changed to a cocky, feral one, "so we can speed things up a notch."
William wished that he had kept his big mouth shut ten minutes later.
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(Cassie's POV)
Cassie was worried about her new friend. Today, they were supposed to attend their chosen courses to prepare for the excursion into the Dream Realm. She had asked the administration staff and was surprised to find that he hadn't signed up for any of the courses.
This was not uncommon per se since some Sleepers occasionally did that; however, those were from Legacy clans who had trained since childhood.
She didn't know how strong William was nor what powers he had, but she had a faint idea from his traits. She would've understood if he at least chosen to go to the Combat Course to learn a few fighting techniques from the Legacies. Yet, he opted to go for solitary training.
The blind girl didn't want to jump to conclusions, since these kind of things made situations really messy.
So, when he came and sat down next to her on the cafeteria table, she decided to get the answers from the horse's mouth.
"Good afternoon Cassie," William greeted in a ragged voice before sitting next to her with his food tray, as if he had just been put through a grinder. The darkness in her vision vanished and a scene came before her.
In the scene was William, long white hair sticking to his forehead due to the sweat trickling down his body in exertion, holding a dreadful-looking sword amost as tall as her. His cerulean eyes were focused as he performed a series of swings, thrusts, and body movements. Everytime he finished one set, he did another different one like a deadly machine: never stopping, never tiring.
The vision lasted for a second at most before it vanished and the darkness returned. A sweet smile bloomed on her delicate face as she greeted back, "Good afternoon, William. Just came from training?"
"How can you tell?"
Cassie pointed to her nose. She heard William sniff himself, "Sorry about the sweat. I was too hungry to think of showering."
"No need for you to apologize, at least you are putting effort in preparing," she said earnestly before her pessimistic side reared its ugly head, "not like me, who can't even do the simplest of things without failing."
"Didn't I tell you to stop it with the dark thoughts?" chided the male Sleeper gently. "I'm sure there will be something for you to do. We just have to find what it is."
'Should I tell him?' she thought about telling him about her ability to see the future before mentally dismissing the notion. 'No, it is too irregular to be of any use.'
Thus, lunch passed with them making small talk about their day.
William sat on the bed of his dorminatory while the sorceress Jaina Proudmoore paced infront of his like a professor preparing to give a long-winded lecture.
"Firstly," she started in a stern, academic tone, "we shall discuss what you are. As you know, you are an incomplete Lich King. Don't misunderstand, the reason why you are incomplete is not a lack of power. You may have even more power than the original Lich King at his prime; however, your immortality is essentially flawed."
She looked at him intently before continuing, "Liches are equivalent to or even stronger than Archmages in terms of power. This is due the near-immortal lifespan they get for abandoning their humanity and caging their soul in a phylactery. Thus, even if they die a million times. They can come back eventually, given time, as long as their phylactery is intact.
However, you have disrupted the whole process. You have somehow managed to become a Lich King with your soul still nestled in your body. Yet, this comes with a price. Since you have maintained your humanity while getting a Lich's immortality, everytime you die, you shall lose memories - starting from your earliest ones. This, of course, is crippling to traditional Liches who become one in pursuit of further knowledge and power."
William looked down gloomily at the eventuality of him losing his memories of his world and family. Noticing her student's mental state, she cleared her thoat to get back his attention.
"Even so, your situation is not all negative since as an incomplete Lich King, you are an one-of-a-kind entity: a living undead. Someone that has a foot in both the world of the dead and the living. As a living person, your bodily functions and emotions are retained; you can theoretically even procreate but that requires further investigation. Also, the normal weaknesses of undead such as holy power are not effective against you.
On the other hand, as an undead, you can regenerate most wounds, you can't get exhausted, you have poison and disease immunity, and your need for air or sustenance is optional since your body can survive purely on a soul-based diet."
"That's good... I guess, it could've been much worse," was the young Sleeper's sullen reply.
"That it could. Now, onto our subject for today," the blond sorceress re-directed the topic of conversation, "as a teacher, I don't give my students fish but rather prefer to teach them how to fish, understand?"
"Not really?" William scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"Simply put, I don't want to teach you magic but rather how to study magic by yourself."
"I think that method's too convoluted. I don't have much time before the winter solstice you know."
"Nonsense," she refuted sternly, "this is the correct way. If your mind is not strong enough ro withstand the burden of casting magic, then it will come back to haunt you later down the line. Moreover, no student of mine has the mental capabilities of a mere hedge mage."
"Ooooookaaaay..... So, what's the first step?"
"Mental tort-," she stopped herself mid-sentence, "I mean, metal accupuncture."
"I think I heard mental tort-."
"MENTAL! ACUPUNCTURE!" she emphasized with her ghostly index finger centimeters from his face.
"Alright, geez," the white haired young man acquiesced, "what's it gonna be?"
"Nothing crazy," Jaina reassured, "we just have to penetrate your brain with mental needles."
"WHAT!?" William freaked out.
"Oh, don't be a baby. It's a standard procedure all apprentices go through and survive," she explained before muttering, "mostly."
"That doesn't fill me with confidence."
"It's going to be fine. Plus, the faster we start, the faster you can start learning magic theory."
In the corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, hid a shadow that looked like a particular short, pale boy.
Sunny watched through said shadow as William started having a discussion with what seemed to be himself. Then, he suddenly gripped his head with both hands, squirming and yelling as if something was drilling into his mind.
"Hells, maybe he really needs a psychiatrist. There's no need to watch out for him. Poor bastard's going to die on the first day in the Dream Realm. No wonder he hangs out with the blind girl," Sunny muttered over from his room before commanding his shadow to explore elsewhere.
That was how William passed his days: Training his body and swordsmanship with Arthas in the mornings and afternoons before studying Magic and Wilderness Survival with Jaina. Despite him not being able to get physically exhausted; mentally, he was wiped out.
Thankfully, daily chats with Cassie seemed to help alleviate that at least slightly. He tried starting conversations with Sunless but he seemed to always look at him with a weird look before running off somewhere.
Before anyone knew it, winter solstice had finally arrived and it was their last day in on earth. William, who just woke up from his traditional one hour nap, arose surprisingly fine apart from a slight dowsiness.
Soon, he found that he was an anomaly, since when he entered the cafeteria for breakfast it didn't have its usual hustle and bustle.
Everyone seemed either too sleepy or on edge. Even Cassie didn't notice him when he greeted her. A small yawn escaped from her.
"Didn't sleep much last night?" he asked her which served to wake her up from whatever trance she was in.
"William? 'Morning. No, *yawn* I slept fine but I woke up feeling very sleepy despite that," she explained with a yawn. "Don't you feel it?"
"I feel a little drowsy, yes, but not to the extent of not being aware of my surroundings," the young man replied before starting to eat his breakfast.
"No appetite either?" he added after noticing the untouched, sparse breakfast on her tray.
"No *yawn*," this yawn was more pronounced.
"You know what? I'll leave you to whatever it is you're doing."
Cassie simply nodded thankfully before concentrating back on pushing back the the enticing call of sleep.
Meanwhile, William summoned his runes to check up on his progress for the past weeks. He may have put himself in the wringer but it paid off, somewhat.
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Name: William
True Name: Malevolent Star
Rank: Sleeper
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [76/1000]
Memories: [Osseous Exoarmor], [Teardrop Talisman]
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fateless], [Eidetic Kinesthetic], [Adaptive], [Living Undead], [Monarch Beyond the Grave], [Mental Fortitude - F], [Muscle Evolution - F]
[Mental Fortitude - F]
Attribute Description: [After constant torture, your mind has adapted and gained
resistance against mental attacks.]
[Muscle Evolution - F]
Attribute Description: [After constant abuse, your muscle fibers - against every rule of nature and biology - increased in quantity and quality.]
Undead Monarch Abilities: [Mantle of Death]
Aspect: [Living Lich King]
Aspect Rank: [Semi-Divine]
Innate Abilities: [Anomaly]
Aspect Ability: [Raise Undead]
Aspect Legacy: [Frostmourne], [Profane Grimoire]
[Profane Grimoire]
Description: [An old book containing magic alien to the world. If one listened carefully one may hear the lingering voice of the foul entity that created it.]
Spells Learned: [Prestidigitation], [Light], [Mental Acupuncture]
[Prestidigitation]: Perform a simple magic trick that can have a variety of utilitarain effects.
[Light]: A small ball of light is conjured over a target and illuminate the area around it.
[Mental Acupuncture]: send a needle of metal needle into the target's brain, causing slight mental damage.
Flaws: [Hollowing]
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'Thankfully, the torture Arthas and Jaina put me through for the past couple of weeks at least did something. Although the spells naming of them seemed... unimaginative?' William noted before shaking his head in dismissal
He finished his breakfast and exited the cafeteria to the private training room. Sure, they would be going to the Dream Realm later today, but after weeks of following the same routine, it somewhat became a habit - and a little morning training never hurt anyone.
'Anyways, I got a passive mental defense and strength boost - as minor as that is - for my troubles. Plus, I got two untilitarian spells in addition to the [Mental Accupuncture] spell I was forced to learn. Those should prove useful eventually.'
William trained with Frostmourne until it was nearly time for sundown. That was when a notice announced that Awakened Rock was waiting for them to gather in the foyer.
After all the Sleepers had gathered, they were led by him to the Medical Center where experienced staff used advance medical machinery to monitor their bodies once they fall asleep.
However, rather than going directly to the area of the Sleeper pods, Awakened Rock took them to a rather abandoned floor. Then, he proceeded to open up the double doors leading to a gallery that contained rows and rows of people in wheel chairs.
These people were completely silent, motionless, and still while a blank, strangely peaceful expression covered their faces.
They were the ones who had lost their souls due to dying in the dream realm. It made them empty inside and thus were named Hollows. The Awakened with them pretty much said the same.
"There is a reason I brought you all here. Look well and remember. Some of you
may know who these people are..... for those of you who don't, they are called
Hollow," explained he with solemn eyes and gritted teeth.
"Each one of them was once either a Sleeper or an Awakened. Some of them
were weak, some of them were strong. Some were even incredibly powerful. All
of them have perished in the Dream Realm."
Out of everyone watching, William most probably was the one who was affected the most. Even though it is unlikely he would ever end up as these hollows, he was still going to go hollow; albiet, a different type.
After that, they were finally lead to the area of the Sleeper pods. Unlike what happened in the novel, William didn't want Cassie to enter the Dream Realm while crying - not after spending the last few weeks getting to know the unfortunate girl. So, he stayed with her until she was standing near the door to her private room.
Cassie walked into the cold room and used the walls as guidance to reach her pod. However, unlike another timeline where she went to the pod crying, she had a soft smile on her face as she remembered what William said to her before.
"Don't worry Cass," he said confidently, using the nickname he made for her, as he gave her a friendly side hug, "if we end up in the same area, I'll make sure to find you as soon as I can. Can't let my friend travel the Dream Realm without company, can I?"
Then, his voice turned solemn.
"However, even if we don't meet up, I want you to know one thing...."
The few seconds of silence stretched on for what seemed like eternity for her, "You are a tough girl Cass, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm sure you will survive no matter what the Dream Realm throws against you. Happy dreams, Cassia."
With that, he left towards his own personal room.
As Cassie entered into the pod, she made one final wish: To be reunited with her friend.
Meanwhile, William stood apprehensively before his pod as the spirits of the paladin and sorceress inspected the weird machine.
"So, this is what you are going to stay in while your soul wanders the Dream Realm?" inquired Jaina after he inspection.
William simply nodded since he didn't know what kind of monitoring are installed in these room - as private as they are.
"Are you prepared?" asked Arthas to which the young man responded by taking in a deep breath and climbing into the pod.
Arthas and Jaina gave each other a nod before turning into motes of light and entering the gem of the Teardrop Amulet which immediately was unsummoned.
When William closed his eyes, he was immediately greeted by a vast dark void in which the voice of the Nightmare Spell echoed familiarly in his ear.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, William!]
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A.N:
AAAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnd that's a wrap.
Our intrepid Lich King has finally entered the Dream Realm!
Also, for any future slaying of Nightmare Creatures, I have devised some sort of system for drop rewards (i.e. memories and echoes)
Basically every time a creature is slain, I will be rolling a D20 (a 20 sided die for those uninitiated in D&D) and based on the roll result, I will be giving the MC loot.
The loot statistics are like this:
1 ~ 14 -----> NO LOOT
15 -----> Weapon Memory
16 -----> Armor Memory
17 -----> Tool Memory
18 -----> Garment Memory (Capes, boots, gloves, scarves, etc.)
19 -----> Charm Memory
20 -----> Echo
Of course, you may wonder what stops me from fudging rolls in the MC's favor.
Well, all I have is my integrity. I ask that you guys to trust me. This system provides some sort of luck factor into the whole story so that things don't appear to be too predictable.
Thanks for reading the chapter and have a nice day!
P.S. If possible, I would want you guys to write your thoughts more frequently if possible since I quite like to explore your points of view about my writing. Just stay civil and treat others with respect.