Chapter 10 The Lord Of Meddiki Forest

You continue on your way to the Meddiki Forest and cut through the vines and bushes as you advance. The forest is full of overgrown plant life and you hear sounds of wild beasts with every single step you take. It hasn't even turned to night and yet you can still hear the howling of wolves and other beasts from somewhere within the forest. Your guard is constantly up and you are ready for any beast that comes your way.

You feel a weird tightness around your left leg and look down to see if your door got stuck in something and need a the grass itself is growing around your left and slowly constraining it. "What sort of creature is this?!" You are surprised and quickly cut the grass with your sword and free your leg from the living grass.

As soon as the grass gets cut, it regenerates and even more grass appears around your leg. You continue cutting and soon realize the more you cut the faster it restrains you. You look up into the stars and notice the spell MAG can be casted. You quickly weave the stellar energy into the MAG spell and cast it upon yourself.

As soon as the stellar energy surrounds your body, the grass stops constricting your body and you can move freely once again. "This grass must have been created with the GRW spell. I wonder which sorcerer or sorceress is trying to turn the Meddiki Forest into their domain?"

You remember a few famous names your master has mentioned before, but none of them should know how to create a grimalkin for the GRW spell. Creating a grimalkin game is not an easy task. A grimalkin needs to be able to weave stellar energy into spells and can only function in a certain range. Inscribing a methods humans use to direct stellar energy into grass should be extremely challenging and no sorcerer you have heard of is capable of this.

After a few seconds, you look around and find the spell lines and runes used to gather and direct the stellar energy. You try to destroy it, but your sword can't do any consistent injury to the grimalkin. The grimalkin is also the ground itself, so it is impossible to move it out of the spells range.

"I'll make a few adjustments to the grimalkin. That should be enough to destroy the entire magical circuit." You try to gather some stellar energy, but you are currently under the MAG spell's effects. All stellar energy you try to gather is repelled away from you and you can't cast a spell.

"The MAG spell should be able to last for a while. I should be able to escape the grimalkin' strange before it wears off." You decide to ignore the grimalkin and continue on your way and follow the paved path overgrown with vines and tree branches.

No matter how big a grimalkin is, a constellation's range isn't that big. The grimalkin can't use the spell outside its constellation's range, so you managed to leave the grimalkin's range with your magic protection still active.

A couple of minutes of walking pass and the MAG spell wears off. You are once again vulnerable to magical attacks from other sorcerers. You walk around vigilantly and hear a lot of different noises around you.

Around half an hour has passed and you have already had to fight 4 zombies and a wolfhound. You swing your sword down onto the 4th zombie you have met and it dies. You have 10/15 stamina from all the times you have had to cast LIV. "Why is the constellation for LIV so prominent in this area? My master has said "If a spell can be cast, it's counter spell isn't far away". LIV should be the counter spell to what is bringing these creatures back to life. This means I can observe the stars and find a constellation as prominent as LIV and reversengineer the spell of resurrection. What constellation is prominent enough to encase the entire forest?"

You wander to yourself as to what is causing these creatures to come back to life and while you advance. You keep a constant watch on the sky and observe all the constellations you can see. Most of them don't coexist well, but you note down ones that are somewhat unique and continue observing. Maybe you can learn the spell used to resurrect these creatures.

While you were observing the world, you suddenly hear a bloodcurdling scream come from almost nowhere. It sounded similar to a human being flailed or burned alive. "What exactly is happening? Why is someone in this place? I need to go and investigate and see if some illegal activity is going on here and if it is somehow related to the recent spike in the amount of undead in the Meddiki Forest."

You quickly rush towards the location of the whaling and see a naked young woman tied to an extremely thick wooden table with a man dressed in black sorcerer robes standing over her with a dagger and a torch. The sorcerer in the black garb is burning her skin with fire and cutting her body up with the dagger.

The young woman looks to be 20, but her body is destroyed almost beyond recognition. She has multiple wound across her entire body, starting from her feet all the way up to her face. The wounds appear and then are forcefully closed by the man burning them shut with the torch in his left hand.

You feel your stomach churn from this sight. You have seen a person being tortured, but this is too far. It doesn't matter to you what beef this sorcerer has with the young woman, such means should never be used against such a fragile young woman. You come out of your hiding and look into the stars.

The stars don't let you down you see the constellation for the new spell you have learned. You quickly weave the stellar energy and you feel the beeswax in your backpack. You quickly realize it is necessary to cast the spell and take it out.

The stellar energy you have fashioned into the spell RAZ flows into the beeswax and it begins to glow. You quickly block the light coming off of it from reaching the sorcerer dressed in black with your own body and act cautiously. Your stamina is the same and you didn't need to weaken yourself in order to cast the spell.

"I think I need to apply the beeswax on my sword. It has a weird sharp feeling to it, so it mast only take effect when I cast the spell on the beeswax and apply it to my sword." You cast the spell once more and apply the enchanted beeswax onto your sword.

The beeswax on your sword seeps into the cracks on your sword and the cracks begin to slowly heal. A couple of seconds pass and you marvel how the small golden rays, that have taken over your sword's blade quickly repair it and sharpen it. The process soon ends and you stare at your sword.

"This sword's edge looks more amazing then I have even seen it. What kind of sorcery is this?" You test out your sword and find out its total power has increased by 2, bringing your maximum power from 13 to 15. "I will check out my spellbook and study this spell in greater detail later, when I am in less danger and a less stressful environment."

You ready yourself and confidently walk toward the man dressed in the black sorcerer robes with you sword drawn and your left hand ready to cast a spell at any time. The man hears your footsteps and stops torturing the female. He holds his dagger and looks towards you.

"I was wondering who the person watching us was. Guess you aren't a coward who would hide when a girl is being tortured. I appreciate your courage, but it is pointless. You won't leave this place alive today!" The Mage has completely bitch place hair and eyes with snow-white skin and nonexistent nails on his 10 fingers.

You looks towards him with a hardened expression and say "I am doing what is correct and letting you live isn't the correct choice in this situation." You begin charging towards the man in black sorcerer robes.

Combat engaged. Warlock has 10/10 stamina and 10/10power. You have 10/15 stamina and 15/15 power.

"You are quite a strong man. Too bad you don't have her power, or I would readily exchange you for her! REZ" the warlock quickly took out a bottle from his pocket and threw it in front of you. The bottle shatters and the unthinkable happens.

Ever since you were a child, you have heard stories of the dead coming back to life when a powerful Archmage uses his life force to bring them back to life, but this entire situation is different. In front of you is no Archmage and neither is the skeletal creature forming itself in front of you nor the man dressed in black sorcerer robes an Archmage.

A 2 meter tall skeletal creature with a frame bigger than you forms itself from the ground and you stare at it with amazement. "W-what kind of sorcery is this?" The skeleton's bones rattle as it swings it's right bony fist, which is slowly forming flesh around itself at you.

The green flesh finishes forming as the punch arrived near you and you barely make it in time to defend yourself. Skeleton has 3/14 stamina and 6/12 power left. You have 9/15 stamina and 15/15 power left.

You quickly regain your bearings and rush at the skeleton with your sword drawn and a 9 power strong attack behind it. You swing it at the skeleton's skull, but the green flesh around it finishes forming and your sword is now stuck in the skeleton's neck. Skeleton 2 took 1 damage and has 3/14 stamina and 10/12 power left. You have 9/15 stamina and 10.5/15 power left.

"This thing is healing! I need to destroy it before it completely regenerates!" You quickly weave the stellar energy above you into the spell you have been using continuously throughout the Meddiki Forest. "LIV!"

You scream the name of the spell and swing your sword at the green skinned creature that finished forming its head now. As you are about to deliver an 10.2 power strong attack, you notice it's facial features and instantly recognize it as the Cyclops you fought and almost died to.

You waver for a second, but your resolve is not strong enough to win against the memories of how you were rag dolled by the Cyclops. You waver and back off. You ended up defending yourself after you give up the 10.2 power strong attack. The Cyclops rushes at you and delivers a 10 power strong punch to your shoulder with its now regrow not left fist.

You take 1 damage from the punch. A sudden realization came to you and your eyes widen "This isn't that beast! It is nowhere near as powerful as it nor as strong as it! This is a smaller version of it and it isn't even at its peak!it is only a head, two fists, two feet and a skeleton! You have the power to slay the undead, so show it what it means to be a hero!" Small Zombie Cyclops has 5/14 stamina and 5/12 power left. You have 7/15 stamina and 14.5/15 power left.

Newfound confidence courses through your body as you calm your mind and slash your sword at the beast with a 5 power skillful attack. The Small Zombie Cyclops defended itself and your sword hurries itself into the undead creatures arms. You smile with confidence as LIV's stellar energy is transferred into your sword from your ring and it burns through the Small Zombie Cyclops's arms.

Your sword burns off both of its arms and you swing you sword once more and chop its skull in half. The cyclops took 5 damage and you used a total of 6 power. The Small Zombie Cyclops falls down, dead and never to move again. You have 7/15 stamina and 8.5/15 power left.

You look at the man you have confirmed is an evil sorcerer and say "Was that your champion?!" The man dressed in black sorcerer robes looks at you with surprise and a little bit of fear in his eyes. "The unholy water I used should have resurrected the most evil spirit that haunts you in resentment. How did you manage to defeat it so easily? There is absolutely no way even a sorcerer can defeat it so fast!"

You smile and say "You must first answer what spell you used to resurrect that creature!" The man in black sorcerer clothes stares at you and says "It is the ancient spell known as REZ. It has the power to resurrect the dead by granting them a body or turning them into mindless monsters. You must have already guessed the way I use it. Now it is your turn to answer."

You scoff and say "It is a spell that overcharges the dead with life energy so they destroy themselves, but it doesn't last forever." The Warlock looks at you with a smile and says "Let's see how many you can kill before you become too tired!"

The Warlock quickly threw 5 more bottles of the black liquid and the bottles shattered upon impact and the same exact thing happens. 5 2 meter tall skeletons appeared and began approaching you, but you don't waver. You swing your sword without getting scared and cut them down one by one.

The energy from your LIV spell ran out just as you land the last blow on the 5th skeleton and begin approaching the man dressed in black sorcerer robes. He begins to panic and says "Stay away from me, monster! Do you have any idea what killing me will do?!"

You look the black Mage in the eyes and say "End the curse of Meddiki Forest!" The sorcerer stammers and says "You fool! That is my goal as well. She is an evil witch and I was trying to get information out of her. She taught me how to use the REZ(evil) spell herself! She is an evil necromancer with the ability to not only summon but control the undead as well!"

You nod your head and say "There is no man on this earth who would believe such a blatant lie. I am not such a gullible man as well." You quickly engage combat with the Warlock. You two fight for a few minutes, but such an average level fighter stood no chance, you overpowered him within minutes and his head flys off of his shoulder.

The warlock couldn't even get a single word in before he was ultimately killed by you. You chop his head off and his warm and lifeless corpse fell down. You take of his robes and untie the young girl from the wooden table. "Wear this, miss. I am not one to take advantage of such a situation. You would also feel more comfortable if you were clothes rather than being naked."

The young girl nods at you and she puts the robes back on "Where is your house? I can help take you out of the Meddiki Forest and back to the house." The young girl points towards a direction westwards and you see a few pieces of stone and gravel laid down there to make a path.

The woman hasn't spoken a single word since you have seen her and wonder if she is unable to speak "Are you able to speak or mig miss be a mute?" The young girl opens her mouth and you are stunned by what you see. Her tongue has been completely cut off and there are almost no traces of it. Not even magic can heal such an injury.

You feel nothing but anger and resentment towards the warlock you just killed "What a despicable man! To think he would treat an innocent girl so fiercely!" You look at the young girl with a gentle expression and say "I am sorry for being so impolite. If miss is too weak to walk, I can help carry you back while you rest on my back."

The young girl nods and you pick her up. She is laying on your back and points out directions with her fiber and leads you towards a big wooden hut. The journey took a while, but, to your surprise, you didn't have to face a single undead or living beast along the way.

"What is going on? I had to dodge tens of those creatures and was forced to fight 5 of them while walking. Is it possible they have just disappeared? No, the guy was the one creating them and providing them the energy to live. With him gone, the curse should be lifted. It makes sense why I haven't seen any."

You think carefully and make out a logical deduction for your situation. To think a single man could curse an entire forest and turn it into a forbidden land full of undead. "Just what kind of spell is this REZ(evil) spell? It can bring back the dead on such a large scale and even gives the caster full control over them"

You try to analyze the new spell the Warlock taught you, but your information about it is insufficient and you can only make some deductions based on what you have seen. You think about what you have learned while walking and arrive at the wooden hut.

The young girl guides you inside and sits you down onto a chair and brings you some water to drink. She offers some food, but you decline the offer. You can have a meal at Dhumpus after you get out of the forest. Eating with the young woman will waste too much time and is unnecessary.

You decide to say goodbye to her and begin to leave the hut. The young woman looks panicked and quickly pulls on your arm. She pulls you back and tells you to wait. You are a bit confused. You have done all that is needed, why would she stop you?

A few minutes pass and the young woman comes back with a weird armband inscribed with runes. She hands it to you and you begin to inspect it. It has a metal sheet beneath the cloth and the metal is surprisingly flexible. It is as flexible as cloth, but as thought as steel.

You tie it around your right arm and feel a sudden rush of strength. Your body is full of energy and the armband bonds with your flesh. It becomes one with your right arm and a small sword mark appeared on your right shoulder. "What is this item? It has some magical properties and can even bond with a person."

You swing your sword for a few seconds and adjust to what just happened. You soon realize the effects of the armband. Your body has grown stronger and your body's maximum power has increased by 1. Your maximum power is currently 14.

You look at the young woman with gratitude in your eyes and say "Thank you" but your mind is full of doubts. Why would an young woman with a weak body have such a priceless treasure in her possession? Any item or fruit that can increase a body's power by even 1 is highly sought out.

Strengthening your body is a lot different from upgrading your equipment. A stronger body means you use up less stamina and your maximum stamina will increase. Your stamina is much higher than your power because of your sorcerer power, so it has no effect on your stamina, but it will help conserve stamina in the future.

You look at the stars and decide to be a little more careful in case the Warlock you were talking to before was telling the truth. You look into the stars and your eyes widen in horror. The constellation REZ is directly above you. This wooden hut is located in the exact epicenter of the entire stellar energy output.

You look at the young woman and ask "May I have the honor of knowing miss's name?" The young woman smiles at you with a mouth and you hear a gentle, beautiful and soothing voice say "Alianna, the necromancer of Meddiki Forest!" You watch in horror as the young woman throws the robes you put on her away and you see all the wounds she previously suffered were gone.

All the burn marks, cuts and bleeding wounds have disappeared and she is looking at you with an evil grin "You should have listened to the Warlock."

You want to slap yourself from your own stupidity. When you first saw the girl, she had suffered wounds impossible to recover from. Unless you are already dead, over 30 different stab and burn wounds will kill you within minutes, but she survived for over a half hour.

"How could I be so blind?! To think I was blinded by my own judgment to the point where I couldn't even discern right from wrong." You look in horror as the young woman takes a knife out of a holster on her dress and cuts her arm off.

The blood she spilled is completely black and full of stellar energy. She reaches for the sky and her black blood surrounds her as if a cocoon. "REZ(evil)!"

A single word was all it took for the black blood to blow up into bass and she absorbed every little bit of it. Alianna stands before you.

The previous young and gentle looking female you felt responsible for has disappeared completely. In front of you stands a 1.7 meter tall woman with black and red wings, a completely blackened body showing no sign of belonging to any gender, completely blackened eyes and white irises and hair that looks as hard as steel and as deadly as a spear.

Combat engaged. Alianna the undead has 20/20 stamina and 10/10 power. You have 7/15 stamina and 14/14 power.