NBB3 - chapter 18: A night on the town

Tirella stared at the side of the zombie's face and, with a grunt, flew through. A moment later, she came out the other side, which wasn't the thing she had been hoping for. Hovering back to the center of the room, she took a look around and sighed—so many undead, and not a single one she could inhabit. There was only one more room above this one, and she hoped for some more luck as she flew up and through the ceiling.

She entered another dark and dank room filled with zombies chained up to the walls. This time there were far more than the rooms below, some even chained to the same bone rings in the wall.

So many, Tirella thought as she looked around. From her count, this building alone held over a thousand lethargic ones.

Unlike those on the bottom floors, these hung in their bindings without any signal they were awake. Instead, they gazed at a single spot on the ground or a wall with muddy eyes.

Promising, she thought as she examined the rest of the room.

A single door led away from the room, and she moved towards and through it, taking a quick look at what lay behind. A lowly zombie sat on the ground, guarding the room. She examined it, wondering if it would prove trouble if she tried to get away. That was if she could find a body that was lethargic enough for her to inhabit. The level of lethargy would be the decisive factor, or that's what she had come up with at least. The more lethargic they were, the less mind they had left and the higher the chance she could take over the body.

She gave the zombie guard one more look, decided she could probably get past it without much trouble, and returned into the room. There, examined the undead. Most were zombies, as she had noticed before. Either skeletons were less likely to get the affliction, or most undead had evolved into zombies by now. Whatever the reason, she didn't mind the prospect of a zombie body. She had used one for a long time.

A quick search showed that almost all of the zombies were simple, first evolutions, and old from the looks of some of the wounds they had. From skinny to bulky and covered in hairy to bald, all had one thing in common. Their skin was dry, ripped, and lacerated in many places. Many had warts or pustules, and all had ripped mouths, some so bad that the corners of their mouths stood in a perpetual smile that reached their ears. It was the easiest way to discern fleshy undead with one evolution over those with more. She had found that the first thing to improve was always the skin. Before Viridi had evolved her, she had never cared much about that. Now, she preferred her own body, with its smooth brown skin.

Beggars can't be choosers, she thought, then froze in surprise.

A new concept unfolded in her mind, something called sayings, and she became more confused as she tried to find the origin of the words that had popped into her mind. She tried to find the source, digging through the knowledge that now littered her mind.

A low moan from one of the zombies snapped her out of it, and she gazed at a thin zombie covered in warts. Its mouth widened slightly, and for a moment, a glitter appeared in its eyes as it seemed to want to say something. Then it disappeared, and its mouth slowly closed.

The dullness in the zombie's eyes made Tirella shiver.

I wish I could talk with Solus about what's happening to us, she thought. Then she scanned the room again.

To the back lay a couple of different zombies, and a slight movement drew her attention. One had a large smattering of hair, the ends moving on their own as if uncaring that their owner was looking at the wall with dead eyes. The other one seemed to have been placed there recently because one of his hands was still twitching, and on occasion, his eyes sharpened slightly as he looked around.

Let's try the hairy one, Tirela thought.

It was a female zombie, which was good. Although she wasn't going to be too picky, something about the prospect of inhabiting something else felt oddly uncomfortable. She had tried everybody on the floors before, though, and expected she would eventually have to do the same here.

She flew into the body, wondering what body she should try after this. A mental hammer-blow slammed into her unsuspecting mind and everything turned black.

--

"Sig will wake up?" Laron asked, moving forward with the grey undead slung across his shoulders.

"Only if we find a mana-orb," Solus said, not for the first time, and starting to get annoyed at answering the same questions over and over.

He was gazing around from his vantage point above Laron's head. The vast wasteland stretched out in all directions, but the hills that hid Skulltown were now visible far in the distance. With Laron's speed, it would take them two to three days to reach it. Two days of hoping there would be no Kaots around. Hoping that Laron wouldn't break down. Hoping for no Wyrms.

Solus kept spinning around, keeping an eye on everything while his thoughts lingered on Tirella. He wished he knew what the horrible feeling he had gotten through the connection meant. It was gone now, but he couldn't shake the bad feeling it had given him. He just hoped that meant everything was alright.

I wonder what you are up to, Tirella.

--

An almost unbearable itch awoke her, and Tirella automatically razed her hands to scratch the top of her head. Her fingers touched, then entwined with long and oddly moving hairs.

It worked!

She surged up, then felt something hold her arm in place, causing her to bounce back.

"Right, the chain," she muttered, looking up at her arm.

The bone chain dangled from the ring in the wall, from which another chain moved to the undead next to her. As she looked at him, she noticed he was still gazing dumbly at the ground.

Now how am I going to get out of here?

First, she had to see how strong she was, and she began pulling the cable. It strung taut as she hung from it, her feet planted on the wall. After a while of trying to pull free, she sat back down.

Right, let's see what we have here, she thought as she pulled up her status window.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 57

Sex: Female

Race: Zombie

Type: advanced

Class: Threadwinder

Strength: 10/10

Constitution: 9/10

Dexterity: 14/14

Endurance: 18/18

Intelligence: 8/8

Wisdom: 4/6

Charisma: 6/8

Mana-field: 600/600

Physical density: 500/500

Skills: 1

Inscriptions: 1/4

Mana generation: 5

Interesting. She's almost fully leveled! Whatever happened must have happened right before she was going to evolve, Tirella thought.

This suited her needs perfectly, and she began scrolling through the list of potential evolutions. As she searched for something that would either increase her strength or allow her to manipulate the matter, she came across an interesting racial option.

> Rank A race evolution: Pantene

>  (Dexterity+, Constitution+)

> Requires: Zombie racial pattern

> One of the few fully-haired undead, the Pantene is useful on any arctic or sub-zero planet. With grey, blue-tipped hairs as tough as metal, they excel at close combat where they use their hairs to impale any would-be attackers. Even in rest, the hairs are strong enough to puncture nearly any normal material.

Tirella smirked nastily as she selected the pattern. Immediately the automatic system she had gained from Solus began etching the pattern in her mana field.

Her mind went numb then she ejected from the body, watching as it twitched and altered below her. The intricate, almost impossible-to-follow lines gave her a small migraine. She had seen Solus draw the pattern himself, and apparently, Drys preferred doing it that way. How they did that, she had no idea, but she was glad the system could do it for her. She ignored the immerging pattern and focused on the body. A thick, gleaming layer of dots appeared on the slowly growing body. The hair that moved on its own, yellow at first, turned grey and shiny, while a thick fur coat covered the undead body.

When it reached the body's wrists, the bone manacle groaned and squeaked as small holes appeared. Before long, it shattered apart. The change lasted for a lot longer than she liked. As soon as the body stopped twitching, she shot inside to control it but instead flew out the other side.

Don't tell me I can't enter anymore, she thought, trying again and again.

A few minutes after the body had stopped changing, she flew through the head again, not even expecting anything anymore when the familiar mental hammer blow turned everything black. How long it took before she regained her consciousness, she couldn't say, but she woke to find the itching gone. Instead, she felt heavy. It was as if something was bogging her down. At the same time, an odd sensation of something streaming down her chest made her feel disgusted.

A soft growl came from inches from her ear, and she looked around as she tried to struggle up. A puddle of greenish ichor sat right before her eyes, and her nose was almost inside it. Another pained growl came, and as she pushed herself up, a yellowish arm fell from her back. Innumerable puncture holes covered it, and more of the green ichor oozed from it. The end seemed sliced off by hundred of tiny blades. When she finally managed to stand, something fell from her body with a grating noise, then slammed into the ground. She turned around to see the other zombie beside her. His eyes and face were almost completely scraped away, and a long thick strip of flesh was missing from his back.

Why was he on my back? Tirella thought, then thought of something. With some difficulty, she put an arm behind her back, feeling around. There was a thick layer of soft tissue all across the hairs on her back.

"Disgusting," she muttered as she tried shaking it off.

Bits of flesh and green ichor drops rained down all around her. When she couldn't feel more of the zombie's bits remaining, she looked around the room. None of the undead had paid attention, but the door leading outside was open, and the yellow-skinned zombie guard stood in the opening.

"Did you wake up?" the guard asked, looking curious. At the same time, his hand was holding the edge of the door, seeming ready to slam it closed if Tirella made a wrong move.

"Yes, something like that," Tirella said, taking a step forward. "I need to speak with Drys. It is imperative."

The zombie's eyes widened, and he looked around the room, first at the dead zombie, then at the destroyed chains.

"There are only supposed to be zombies in here," he said, staring at her pointedly and ignoring her remark.

Great, a smart one, Tirella thought, but she stopped moving when the guard made to close the door.

"I evolved, which is why I am not Lethargic anymore."

"How?" the guard asked as he leaned forward with hunger in his eyes and desire on his face.

Tirella knew what he meant. Although undead could evolve by themselves, this was a time-consuming thing that required trial and error and usually left undead with horribly inefficient evolutions, if not one that was outright dangerous to themselves. The best evolutions were those from the ancients or crafted by someone like Drys. He could somehow create evolutions for others and even inscribed them without needing one of the status-windows inscriptions.

Tirella scanned the zombie. It was only rank one, just one evolution above the basic skeletal form. She could probably break down the door if he closed hit and beat him down, but then she would be in the city without a guide. She had a general idea where to go, but...

"If you bring me to Drys, I'll give you an evolution pattern."

The zombie's eyes widened even more, almost popping out. Then his mouth closed, his lips tightly clamped shut, and he swallowed. For a moment, Tirella thought he would close the door, then he nodded and stepped back.

"Alright, come out. My replacement will be here soon."

Tirella moved forward, hearing a few leftover bits tick on the ground behind her. When she passed the door and looked at the zombie, she suddenly realized how good it felt to have a body. Although flying around and going anywhere she pleased was fun, having something that could interact with the world was much better.

"I'm Gregor," the zombie said as he closed and locked the door.

Tirella had thought of this beforehand and nodded. "Rella," she said, looking if there was any reaction. The zombie just nodded when his eyes suddenly widened. He turned to the stairs at the end of the corridor.

"He's early," Gregor said, turning to Tirella. "Follow my lead!"

Gregor said down with his back against the door, motioning Tirella to follow suit. She quickly copies his movement, feeling her hairs scrape curls of bone from the door, and they were both barely sat when a solid thudding came from the entrance. A moment later, a massive slate-colored figure came up the staircase.

"Great, a Goliarn," Gregor whispered, his voice barely audible.

What's a Goliarn supposed to be, Tirella thought as she looked at the door.

The Goliarn stopped halfway in the corridor, its head almost touching the ceiling.

"Why are there two of you?" he snapped without as much as a greeting.

"We are forming a new Kaot Hunting group after my evolution," Gregor said as he slowly got up. "We were using this time to plan."

The Goliarn frowned, his pale face seeming too rigid for the moment.

"There are not supposed to be multiple guards here. You know this. If those things turn insane, we need only a warning and not them grabbing two mana-orbs and getting stronger!"

Gregor nodded, pointing at Tirella. "Rella here can stop all of them by herself. If she stands in the door, they would just destroy themselves. We had one waking up a while ago, turning nasty. She took care of it."

As Gregor spoke, he opened the door and pointed inside.

The Goliarn's frown turned to curiosity, and he trudged forward, poking his head into the room and inspecting the ravaged zombie body. After a moment, he nodded.

"Good. There is a Librarian at the gate. Tell her what happened. But next time, only one guard!"

As he spoke the last words, he put a hand on Gregor's shoulder, and the zombie groaned as the sound of snapping bone echoed through the room. "Understand?"

As Gregor's head bobbed up and down, his eyes wide with fear and pain,  Tirella wondered if she should intervene. Could she even? This thing looked as strong as Skull! Before she had to decide, the Goliarn released Gregor and shoved him towards the exit. Then he grabbed Tirella's shoulder, and she felt the metallic hairs on her shoulder bend as he squeezed her shoulder without flinching before shoving her after Gregor. As she stumbled forward, barely managing to stop from slamming into Gregor, she looked at her shoulder to see the impression of a hand. All of the sharp hairs had been bent inward, some almost doubling back and touching her own flesh.

"Now out," the Goliarn said.

Gregor rushed down the stairs, and Tirella followed after him. On the next floor, she opened her mouth to speak, but Gregor shook his head, a finger on his lips. She blinked at the gesture but understood what he meant. Gregor's left arm dangled uselessly down his side, the shoulder swelling and turning purple.

Another staircase down, they reached the ground floor and moved towards the exit when Gregor finally spoke through clenched teeth.

"These things are way out of control. Why do Enthril and the others keep this pattern around?"

Tirella wasn't sure how she was going to answer that and just shrugged.

"Is your shoulder alright," she asked.

"No, but if you can evolve me, it'll be worth it," Gregor muttered as he gripped his shoulder with his good hand and sighed. "I hope. Now let's get out of here before that big wyrm-breath realizes there is one broken set of bone manacles and no undead to fill them."

Gregor stepped out of the building while Tirella looked down the hall for a moment, then nodded and moved after him. As she stepped out of the building and into the dark street, a soft hot wind blew across her face.

Wind?

She'd not felt the wind on this world, at least not like this. Solus had told her it sometimes occurred on the wasteland, but only rarely. It was one of the odd things of this world, but she had gotten used to it. A strange scent carried on the wind, pungent, sour, and very unpleasant.

"I don't know how long you were in that room, but it's been happening more regularly," Gregor said, holding up his hand in the wind. "Some think it's related to the Lethargic ones."

Tirella didn't respond, and they began walking down the street towards a bone wall that had been erected to block it. Another Goliarn stood there, staring at them, and beside them was an undead wearing wyrm-leather robes and a book in her hand.

"Let me do the talking," Gregor whispered. "If they ask, tell them we are going to Flink for a new assignment."

Tirella didn't respond, just following him towards the gate. A few steps away, the librarian, a small fleshy undead with short dark hair and green eyes, looked up.

"Let me guess. Nothing happened. All was quiet," she asked, uninterested.

"One of the undead partially woke and began attacking the others," Gregor said. "We had to end it."

The librarian perked up, her eyes widening as she gazed at them. "Did it say anything?"

"No, it just attacked the others until Rella stopped it."

Tirella quietly stood to the side as Gregor answered more questions, including another set from the Goliarn. She wanted to know why there were two of them, and Gregor gave the same answer. When they were finally told to leave, Gregor's jaw was set and his eyes burning, but he didn't complain.

As he stomped through the gate, Tirella followed him down the empty street towards the busier part of the city. When they reached an intersection with dozens of undead moving about, Gregor stopped and turned to her.

"We need to go to Flink before we can go to Drys. Those Goliarn look dense, but they will check back to see if we went there."

"What does it matter," Tirella said with a frown. "If you bring us to Drys, they can't harm us anyway."

Gregor inspected her, then shook his head. "You say that, but I don't know you. If you are lying, or wrong I'll be in trouble. No, we are going to Flink first. It's roughly on the way."

For a second, Tirella thought about just setting out on her own. Then she looked around the three-story streets with no point of reference anywhere, and she knew it would take her far too long to find her way. She'd tried to memorize where to go from the sky, but down here...

"I can just ask someone else to show me the way," she said, looking at Gregor.

The zombie smiled, the corner of his mouth tearing slightly. "Before you find someone who can get you into the inner city, which is where Drys is, we could have gone to Flink and gone there twice."

"Fine. Lead the way," Tirella snapped.

"Follow me," Greggor said, moving off.

He is smarter than I remember zombies to be, Tirella thought as she followed after Gregor. And less emotional…"

--

Sumil gazed down the smooth slope at the six-meter tall figure with a red shell covering its back that stood below. Light from the red-lined rift that hovered midair shone down on it. With four arms, each with an extra set of joints, and heavily muscled legs similar to those of a mantis, it looked powerful.

He evolved again, Sumil thought angrily.

Looking at the legs, she knew he was experimenting with some jump-enhancing ability. Even then, her plan should still work.

Where is Galg? she thought.

She scanned the low planes behind her, seeing the chaotic mountain range far away. A storm brewed above it, red lightning spilling out and cracking against the hillside. She ignored it until she noticed that it began moving her way.

No… he didn't! That's not a distraction. Thats suicide!

She almost decided to flee and wait for a better opportunity. But there wouldn't be one. She and Galg had been attempting to get a mana-core for years, but except for the partial one that Galg had detonated long ago, this was the only one they had gotten their hands on.

So, she waited, looking at the quickly approaching black cloud, red lightning bolts slamming down to the ground below. It closed in fast, and soon she could make out the blue bolt of lightning that zipped below it, effortlessly dodging the crackling red energy attacks.

The undead above it became clear soon after. Galg called it Terror Birdy, and it was one of the most powerful areal Kaot Lords in this area. A few of them lived at the peak of the mountain, preying on any Kaot Lord that became big enough to be of interest to them.

Sumil turned back to the massive shell-covered undead and saw that Domain had noticed the incoming danger. He was moving up the slope, away from her and looking at the incoming Kaot Lord.

"I know what you are trying to do."

A low, emotionless voice echoed across the area.

"You think a simple distraction will make me leave this position so you can return through the portal and warn Solus?"

Not exactly, Sumil thought as she grinned. She kept quiet as the shaking in the ground grew, and the thunderous roaring became deafening. Terror Birdy was a few hundred yards away and closing fast, and she could see Galg blinking around, holding the mana-core in his hands.

"Follow me, you bumbling bird," Galg's shouted taunts were audible now.

Sumil extended her voice towards him. "I'm ready, and Domain is looking right at you. Are you ready?"

Galg roared as he blinked forward, now only fifty yards from the hovering portal.

"Of course I'm ready," he shouted.

Brainless dimwit, Sumil thought as she looked at Domain to see if he had heard. Couldn't Galg just have sent her a silent message?

"I don't know what you are planning," Domain said again, his voice echoing all around, audible even over the Terror Birdy's roars. "It won't work. And even if it did, you are far too late!"

He keeps saying that, Sumil thought as she pressed her body flat against the ground. She covered her head with her hands and peeked out from under to see Galg in his lightning form shoot through the air closing the last distance to the portal. For a moment, it seemed like he would just enter, then he hung in midair, holding the mana-core up.

"Boom bitches," he shouted in his usual ridiculous over-the-top voice.

Before any of those present could wonder what he meant, he tossed the core up, turned into lightning, and blasted through the tumbling angular shape.

A burst of light blinded everything as a soundwave ruptured Sumil's eardrums. Debris and dust pelted over her, some pelting her eyelids. The earth shook as if a stampede of Kaot Lords came through.

The incoming Terror Birdy was pushed back, its wings snapping like matchsticks. On the other side of the bowl, Domain was picked up and tossed far away.

As soon as most of the shockwave passed, Sumil pushed herself up, her body vibrating like a tuning fork. She stumbled but barely managed to stay standing.

Now or never, she thought when she saw the portal, finally free of Domain's presence.

Energy balls blasted from her hands, propelling her forward and up as she took in the massive destruction that the exploding mana-core had dealt. The side of the bowl closer to the blast was gone, replaced by a deep crater. Bits of sand and stone still rained down on everything.

Sumil knew she should hear that, but all she heard was a soft ringing.  She continued towards the portal. When she was less than fifty feet away, she saw Galg's lightning shape shoot through and disappear. The ringing stopped, and as if from far away, she heard a soft, angry howl. She looked around and quickly spotted Domain.

The AI, who had been blasted hundreds of feet away, had crawled up and was jumping towards her moving so fast he left behind after images. A look of rage on its sharp-edged face. His mouth was open, his thin lips moving as if he spoke, but all she heard was a faint whisper.

"Stay here and rot," she shouted, barely hearing her own words.

Then she touched the solid black rift, and a moment later, staggered out the other end of the rift. Explosions and roaring came from everywhere, a loud flash blinding her for a moment. When she could see again, she saw Glag in his lightning bolt form, shoot around a small compound filled with kaots. Gore and bits of flesh and bone rained down as the insane undead blasted through the Kaots faster than they had a chance to react.

Sumil knew that, had she been the first to enter, she wouldn't have had such an easy time dealing with them.

I guess that's what he meant, she thought.

Even after all that, Domain still found a way to act on this side of the portal. Her hearing was returning in leaps and bounds, and she heard a clatter next to her as Galg appeared. There was no sign of any moving Kaots anymore, only parts of them lying on the floor.

"That stupid NPC must have sent his minions through the portal," Galg snorted. "I took a quick look out of the door, and it seems we are in some sort of city. There's way more of them out there, including a few bigger ones."

"NPC? Wait... a city?" Sumil muttered as she looked at a massive double door at the end of the compound.

It was the only visible exit in the building. Then she looked up at the odd ceiling. It was different from anything she had seen before; a crosshatch of bones with slabs of roughly hewn stone atop it, bound together by bone tendrils. It wasn't at all like the one-piece stone and bone buildings she was familiar with, or even with the buildings that the ancients had left behind.

"Is there anything above this room?" she asked.

"How would I know?" Galg snorted, waving around. "Look at this place. There's one exit, and I didn't go through. I just took a quick look, nothing more."

"Can you blast through the roof?" Sumil asked. If there was a city out there, she wasn't interested in navigating it. If they could get up, flying away would be their best bet.

"I don't know, but let's find out," Galg said.

He turned into a lightning bolt that slammed into the roof above, leaving a small black marred crater. A boom echoed throughout the room, and Sumil looked at the door. Above her, the lightning bolt dissipated, and Galg's white shape plummeted back down. A few feet from the ground, the white skeleton turned back into lightning that shot up again, crashing against the same spot in the ceiling. The crater deepened, a small hole appeared in the top, and cracks branched out from it. Galg fell again but didn't seem bothered, changing into his lightning shape and slamming into the same spot twice more.

On the fourth impact, the ceiling crumbled, and large pieces fell as the whole building shook slightly. Rays of sunlight pierced through the dust, and Sumil didn't bother to wait.

"Let's get out of here," she shouted, propelling herself straight up on a barrage of energy balls.

Galg flashed through the hole ahead of her, debris falling from the edges.

Sumil shot out of the still widening hole, looking around to see a small, walled city all around her. A group of undead had formed close to the entrance of the building they had just exited. It seemed the center of the city. More buildings, all made from an odd amalgamation of stone and bone, made up the rest of the city. Further out, beyond the wall, stood ragtag cages filled with kaots and a few long stone pillars with bigger kaots chained to them. As Sumil flew higher up, she saw other, smaller outposts further out and more cages.

A crackle came as Galg appeared beside her, turning to his normal skeletal shape. His upward motion carried him for a few moments before he fell.

"That thing is creating an army out here," Galg shouted, before turning to a lightning bolt that shot up and reappeared beside her.

"We better warn those fools in Skulltown!"

The skeleton fell again, turned to a lightning bolt, and zoomed off. Sumil moved further up, watching the scene below. Then she turned after Galg, who was zapping away far in the distance.

I hope Solus and the others are doing alright, she thought as she propelled herself towards where Skulltown would be. Because I don't think they will like the news we bring them.