NBB3 - chapter 11: Try, try, and try again!

Solus looked around the room. It was large, at least a hundred feet across, and forty wide.  Except for the far left wall entrance, the walls were solid bone. Dirt, dust, and piles of gunk had gathered in the corners, and below the undead lay patches and slivers of flesh, pools of ichor, and even one limb.

"Locked away, locked away," Laron cried softly, looking up at the bone tendrils that bound his arm. They were as thick as fingers.

Solus didn't respond, slowly trying to digest what had happened. Kreel being in control somehow didn't surprise him, but how crazed the crowned skeleton was acting had. He hadn't been like this the last time he had seen the other.

"Will you get us out? Yes?" Laron muttered as he gazed up and Solus.

His words caused two zombies that had been screaming to look over. One of them frowned as it looked at Laron. It had mottled green skin, with patches of sickly yellowish fur across his bare chest and arms. The fur turned to strings of hair that fell around his stomach and legs, covering them from view. The other one beside it was pale with large gaping wounds across her arms and shoulders, almost as if someone had bitten chunks from her flesh.

"Hah, a crazy one?" the furred one said in a high-pitched voice.

"Lucky for him. Perhaps that will make it easier," the other added.

They laughed hystericaly as they inspected Laron.

"So? How did you get caught? Followed the rumors of the mysterious city of bone, hoping for a better place than Skulltown?" the furry one squeaked, his voice changing between high and painfully high.

"Don't be brainless," the pale one snarled, shaking her head. "Look at him. He already has a good pattern, not the woven bile that those stuck-up pieces of Gargil flesh handed out in Skulltown!"

These two are from Skulltown? Solus thought as he focused on them. They both had an evolution unfamiliar to him, but with how much Drys had been experimenting, that wasn't such a surprise.

Laron sighed, looking between the two zombies. "Here, why? Why here?"

The zombies blinked, then the furry one cackled with laughter.

"Your mind must have cracked," the pale one said sadly before she turned to the furry one. "Stop your laughing, Belgh. It hurts my ears!"

Belgh either didn't hear or didn't care, continuing his laughter, and the pale one growled again. It didn't stop Belgh's laughter thought. After a while, her gaze drifted off, until she was staring at the patch of white and yellow ichor below Belgh's feet. Slowly her gaze turned dull, her face slack, and it almost seemed as if she fell asleep.

She reminds me of those lethargic ones, Solus thought as he inspected the zombie.

Belgh continued laughing for a while, and when he finally stopped, he seemed to have forgotten what had been so funny. Although Laron and Solus were watching him, he didn't seem to notice and turned to the pale one.

"Glaum? Glaum! Are you turning into a lethargic one again?"

The other one, Glaum, didn't reply. Her dull eyes like pieces of in-ert bone.

"Ask that one what he knows of the lethargic ones," Solus said, hovering before Laron's face.

Laron shook his head, glaring at Solus. "No, no. No questions! Out of here! Flee!"

"We will," Solus said, looking around to see if any more undead showed any reaction. Only Belgh was looking at Laron again, a crazed smile on his face.

"What are you talking to," he chimed.

Laron turned to the zombie, opening his mouth.

"Don't tell him I'm here!" Solus snapped. He suddenly felt he couldn't look at Laron without severe disaste. He understood that the other had trouble acting normal due to the Cestodia, but it angered him.

Laron's mouth closed, opened, and closed again. Then he sniffed and looked at Belgh.

"Why here?"

Belgh blinked, then shook his head. "Why are we here? Why… to be tortured by Lexirg, of course!"

Seeming to think that was funny, he laughed again, but when Laron didn't join him, he sniffed and looked around.

"He does a good job at it. That leader, Kleer? Kleel… something like that. He seems interested in patterns, and he has been hunting undead in the region, bringing them here. He prefers skeletons…"

Belgh's head turned, and he gazed at the furthest end of the room where something lay in the corner. It was a yellow skeleton covered in plates. Solus hadn't noticed it before due to all the other things that lay gathered in the corners.

That's one of Scathia's minions! One of those Yellowplates she used, he thought. How did that one reached this place? Besides, could it even do anything on its own? He recalled how Scathia had forced her will upon her minions and turned them into mindless statues if she wanted.

Mindless… Solus gazed at the skeleton in the far corner as an idea came to him. He recalled how he had taken over Laron's body when he was asleep. Perhaps he could do that with that undead?

"You won't like what he does… Even if you show him your mana-field, he will still hurt you," Belgh said, and his face turned to panic and sadness. He drifted off into his own world, but from his quick-moving eyes and shuddering limbs it was obvious it wasn't the same as what Glaum had.

Laron looked at him for a bit, then his hand rose to the side of his head, pressing against his temple.

I need to get him out of here, Solus thought, before turning to the Yellowplate.

It was almost seventy feet away from him, a bit more than the furthest he had ever gotten from Laron. Gritting his teeth, he forced his mental body to hover through the room slowly. Ten seconds later, he was only halfway to his target and barely moving. It felt like powerful hands were holding him back, trying to drag him to Laron and the energy cable that was his tether.

He forced himself forward, every inch taken seconds of his time.

"Going? Where are you going?" Laron whispered, breaking Solus' concentration. With a sudden jerk, he was yanked back to the undead.

Angry, Solus glared at Laron. "If we are to get out of here, I need to try something!" he snarled.

Laron pulled his head back, looking at Solus, startled.

"Angry? Why little green undead angry?" he muttered.

"What do you see, exactly?"

Belgh's voice sounded like metal across metal, and Solus snapped his attention to the green-furred zombie. His eyes were staring at Laron with far too much interest, and Solus didn't like it one bit. Laron didn't respond, his gaze on Solus, then on the ground, and finally on the furthest wall.

Begh's eyes narrowed, and Solus found the other's gaze now constantly on Laron.

"Laron, keep quiet and wait. I need to reach that skeleton," Solus snapped.

Laron nodded but didn't reply. Instead, he gazed at the wall. Solus felt sadness filter through their connection, and he sighed as he felt a wave of sympathy washing his previous distaste away.

No time for that now, Solus thought as he looked at the yellow skeleton again. Gritting his transparent teeth, he moved towards it.

He got much further this time, hovering two feet from the skeleton. He saw the bones were serrated, and the fingers of one hand were slowly crumbling. The Yellowplate was on its end, its mana-field no longer regenerating enough to repair the body! If he wanted to see if he could take it over, he had to hurry.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the last bit.

He growled, anger rushing through him as he gazed at his possible escape vessel. He had no idea if it would even work, but he had no other-

Solus's body shot forward, crossing the last distances, and with his hands stretched, he could almost reach the skeleton's arm.

What? Solus thought as he looked behind him and saw that Laron was stretching his head towards him, hanging tight in the tendrils that bound him.

"A bit more," Solus shouted, looking ahead. His fingertips were almost at the arm. Would he need to enter the body completely, or-  He shot forward another few inches, and his hand disappeared into the skeleton's arm. His mind became foggy, but the blackness and the hammer didn't arrive yet. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself forward, ignoring the painful tearing he felt deep in his mind. With excruciating slowness, his head moved closer towards the arm, then inside.

The hammer blow that came was heavier than those he had felt before, and he vaguely heard a startled scream from behind.

--

Solus awoke with a clear mind and no pain. He felt as if he could run forever. A dull white wall sat before him, and behind him, he heard groaning and moaning.

Right, I'm in that prison, Solus thought as he realized what that meant. He was in the yellow skeleton's body! He tried to remain perfectly still and quickly summoned his status window.

Name: UNKNOWN

Age: 57

Sex: male-ERROR

Race: Skeleton

Type: advanced

Class: Mana Amalgamator

Strength: 10/10

Constitution: 16/16

Dexterity: 12/12

Endurance: -

Intelligence: ERROR

Wisdom: 4/4

Charisma: 1/1

Mana-field: 690/700

Physical density: 213/500

Skills: 1

Inscriptions: 1/4

Mana generation: 4

An unknown name? Slightly confused, Solus looked over the attributes, startled to find that most had been maxed out. Only the physical density and mana-field needed some work.

Curious, he scanned his body, trying to feel how much damage it had. He sensed that his left arm was close to the breaking point, some of his ribs had fractured beneath the thick plates, and two plates beneath his left arm were gone entirely. There wasn't any pain, though, just clinical knowledge.

I need to get a mana-orb, fix this body and- he stopped. And then what? Even though the stats were high, he was far from being strong enough to break out. Worse, he was weaker than Laron was, not even considering the others' strength boost.

A wave of sadness flooded his mind as it had long ago, and he felt like none of it mattered. He could just as well just stay here, sit and- Something deep inside his mind surfaced- pushing against the lethargic feeling that hung like a dark cloud in his mind. Within moments it overpowered the negativity and filled Solus with a sense of purpose and desire.

What did it matter if he wasn't strong? He could change that!

Barely understanding what had happened, Solus pulled up the status-window. He wanted to know what skill's this body had!

"Condense ambient mana: The minion is capable of drawing in the surrounding mana at a rapid rate. Although this mana cannot be used to increase the minions' mana-field, it can be used for various energy bursts. This skill is extremely useful in an area with high mana-density. Note: Multiple of these undead together can combine their powers to create large-scale shields and high-powered energy bombs. "

Solus felt like nodding, as the skill brought back a memory from long ago when a group of yellow plates created a barrier and used it against him before they self detonated. This single ability was more versatile than many he had seen. It was also handy if he managed to get beneath the canopy with its dense mana-fog. Remembering the dense mana-fog, Solus realized he couldn't see any mana around him. Had the ability turned off? He tried to use it, but nothing happened.

Can't use it in another body, Solus thought.

Well, it didn't matter! He pulled up the list of extended evolution patterns he had. They were all locked as he didn't have his mana-field topped yet, but he ignored that for now. He had an idea how to fix it.

After filtering it to only show those he would eventually be able to use, he still had a list of thousands of options. Thinking about the strange sickness gripping mostly the zombies, he filtered it to show only skeleton evolutions. The list was still too long, and he skimmed the other filters. They ranged from simple —dexterity enhancements— to complex ones dealing with something called interstellar travel. There were numbers behind each filter, and he guessed it meant how many would be left if he used it. The odd interstellar travel one had a zero behind it, which didn't surprise him when a bit of knowledge from the sphere filtered into his mind.

Shoving the odd skill to the back of his mind, he continued searching. It didn't take him long to find what he needed; Boneshaping. Besides the fact that he sorely missed his own stone-shaping abilities, the easiest way to get out of here would be just to create an exit. Seeing the number twelve behind it, he nodded. There should be something useful.

The list was shortened to ten, and Solus read through the options. He quickly found that most had poor strength. Something about that bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew his true body was a physical powerhouse, but that didn't seem to be the only thing. It was as if the concept of focusing on something other than physical power pained him. He tried to ignore it for a few moments, reading through something called the Boneduster, which could turn bone to dust particles and control them in the shape of clouds, but the feeling only became worse.

Fine, he thought. Curiously, he wasn't at all upset or angry. Instead, he simply returned to the filter menu and selected strength. Unfortunately, the number behind it was one, meaning he'd have no choice.

I can't wait to get back into my own body, Solus thought as he pulled up the pattern.

“Rank A+ racial evolution - Skullidar (Strength+ and wisdom+)”

"A medium ranked evolution developed for use on Perliscius II, the famous planet covered in a layer of bone from an unknown origin. Grants the minion a body that can draw bone matter into itself, changing it to any shape it needs as long as it is part of its body."

It was a racial evolution and one he'd never heard about or seen before. Although it wasn't as freeform as his own body's ability, there was no sense of disgust as he read through the longer description. It was as if something inside him found the option palpable. Looking across the pattern, he knew it would take multiple minutes to inscribe it, after which this body would probably become unresponsive for another few. He had no idea how long it would take before Lexirg returned, but it would probably be sooner than later.

Good, now let's see if we can get a mana-orb or two, he thought as he pushed himself erect. It wouldn't be a good idea to evolve this broken-down body like this. It might end on the spot if he did.

A drawn in breath came from somewhere in the room, and he snapped his gaze around, barely noticing the lack of pain from overturning his neck bone. Belgh was staring at him with wide-open eyes.

"Keep quiet," Solus projected next to the zombie, then moved towards him. If that one began making a racket that pulled Lexirg's attention, this massive stroke of luck would be wasted.

"I'll be quiet…" Belgh hissed, a wide grin forming on his face. "You're the thing that the crazed black one was talking about, aren't you?"

Solus almost misstepped as he looked at the other's sharp eyes. This one was smart, smarter than he'd noticed before. For a moment, he thought about ending it on the spot; then the idea disappeared as his mind turned fuzzy for a second. Perhaps he could be useful? He took a quick look at Laron, who was staring at him with a look of wonder and joy.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Solus asked as he returned his gaze to Belgh.

If the other wouldn't agree, he'd provide Solus with the first mana-orb he needed. The cold, aggressive thought brought only a slight bit of disgust with it, and he belatedly realized that his emotions were majorly dampened from being inside this skeletal body. Was this how he had felt long ago? He couldn't recall.

"Do I want to… Yes! I want to get out of here!" Belgh hissed. He turned his head around, indicating with his chin, and waving around agitatedly with his hands. "Does it look like I'm here because I want to?"

Solus nodded, feeling a tiny sliver of amusement force it's way into his mind. It wasn't coming from his body, though, but from somewhere behind him. Startled, he turned his head around, finally noticing a thin, sickly yellow cable that ran from this body down into the ground. As soon as he saw it, he sensed it in his mind. It was a new connection, a cable tethering him to this body!

"Hey, can you get me out of these bindings?" Belgh hissed.

Solus turned around and nodded. "I can. But you will do as I say!"

Belgh nodded right away, a look of hope on his face. "I'll do whatever you say, follow you around like some brainless Kaot for as long as you want. Just get me out of here?"

Solus nodded, then turned to the other undead around the walls. "Which ones here haven't moved for as long as you recall... lethargic?" Solus asked, turning back to Belgh.

Belgh looked at him, his uneven, bushy green eyebrows furrowed, then his eyes widened, and a grin spread. "Like that, huh?" He pointed at the far end of the room, where Solus had just come from.

"Nothing from that end of the room, up to the door has moved except when they went crazy a while ago."

Solus wanted to ask what he meant, but that would have to wait for when they had more time. He walked towards the far end and stood before a zombie hanging from its bindings. Its face was more sunken in than usual, and the ordinarily present inward glow from its eyes was almost gone. Drool dripped from its ripped mouth onto his bare, wound-covered chest.

"Wake up!" Solus projected practically inside the zombie's ears.

There was no reaction, and he poked it a few times.

"Don't bother. Lexirg decides who is still worth taking by cutting them as they hang here. Eventually, when there is no response, he leaves them. That one has never reacted in the time I've been here," Belgh said. His voice echoed through the room, soft but louder than Solus wanted.

"Quiet!" Solus projected back, and Belgh grimaced before nodding.

As he inspected the zombie, Solus felt a slight resistance to what he had planned. He knew it had something to do with what Viridi had gifted him with: the un-life that was still mutating inside of him. Luckily it wasn't as strong as his abhorrence to a non-strength pattern, and he knew he could overpower it.

After a last attempt to wake the undead, he gripped its head in both of his. Although he felt no pain, his bony fingers still sensed the softness of the flesh and slimy layer that lay atop, and it caused him to pause for a moment, wondering how that was possible. Then he gritted his teeth and snapped the head around in a quick, decisive motion. There was barely any resistance, and a dry crack came from the zombie's neck. The slightest glow still in its eyes previously disappeared.

Solus sighed, then slammed the zombie's head against the back wall. It cracked and splintered, telling him just how weak the zombie had become. He stuck his hand inside the crumbling, wet remains and rummaged until he found the mana-orb. Someone sucked in their breath behind him, but he ignored it. Instead, he began absorbing the mana-orb.

So slow!

As the mana trickled in, Solus suddenly realized another reason why he had grown so much faster than others. With his real body, and at this stage in his evolution, he would have drained a mana-orb of this size in seconds. This Yellowplate body would need minutes. Gouging how fast the yellow-plate was healing, he realized that the single orb would be enough for his plans, although barely. All he needed was to top off his mana-field and repair most of the damage. He quickly walked back to the place the Yellowplate had been lying at before and turned to Laron and Belgh.

"I need to evolve. Don't do anything stupid!"

The two fleshies nodded, but both only had eyes for the glowing mana-orb in his hands. He ignored them and lay back against the wall, hiding the orbs glow from sight by hugging it close. Then he opened his status window and kept an eye on the mana-field and physical-d,ensity values.

He kept listening for Lexirg to return, but it remained quiet. When he finished absorbing the orb, he didn't wait for a second but pulled up his mana field. A well-crafted but straightforward pattern covered most of the two sections of the four that existed. The size of the Skullidar pattern showed it could fit on two, meaning he didn't wave to wipe the existing class pattern.

Will the class remain? Solus wondered as he started inscribing the new pattern. As soon as he began inscribing the new pattern, sections of the old one started changing, parts fading, others intertwining with the new one. Before he could wonder what was happening, he was ejected from the body.

"He is like an AI!" Belgh hissed from behind.

A whispered conversation began between Belgh and Laron, but Solus had no time to listen to it. Unlike before, there was no strong power pulling him back to Laron, but that didn't mean he didn't need to hurry. The presence of his grey and yellow mana field lit up the room, and a quick look around showed that a dozen zombies were blinking and looking around as they slowly woke.

Seconds ticked by, then minutes, until the last part of the pattern finally finished. It flashed once then settled. Most of the class' pattern had either disappeared or moved across the mana field to attach to the sides of the new one.  Inspecting it, Solus was surprised to find that he could almost read the pattern, and he knew that the parts that remained were mostly the initial skeleton pattern, with only minute amounts of the class pattern mixed in. It wasn't nearly enough to retain the Mana Amalgamator, but why even that little remained he wasn't sure. He'd never been able to understand a pattern this well, and he'd not paid attention when he did Laron's evolution.

The mana-field blinked away, and the body below began morphing greatly. An indent formed in the ground as bone turned to dust and was absorbed into the body. First, the entire body increased in size, growing in height and becoming wider and thicker. Then the yellow color of the plates drained away, stopping only when they were a pale, sickly off-white. After that, the changes came quick and fast, as the bone plates rippled and reshaped.

The change lasted for minutes, and Solus switched his attention between the body and the undead in the room. Dozens of zombies were now staring intently at the body, but to his surprise, none of them screamed or shouted. Instead, he saw looks of hope on a few, while others kept glancing worriedly at the door.

A loud thud came from deep in the building, and Solus cursed as he looked at the body. The changes had slowed down, but it wasn't done yet. Heavy footsteps were moving towards them, and a voice was projected into the room, he hoped from far away.

"What is happening in there? What woke so many of you….! Can it be that you are looking forward to our final night?"

The zombies in the room began moaning, some actively trying to tear from the bonds, fear etched on their faces.

In front of Solus, the Skullidar body stopped morphing, and he shot down. He barely noticed that the plates that had nicely interlocked before now had space between them, showing the thick bones they covered. However, he did notice the rough etching of a skull in the middle of a single massive plate covering the chest and upper abdomen area. Then he touched the body, and the familiar hammer blow followed, knocking him out. His final hope was that he would wake before Lexirg made it to the room.