NOVEL NEXT 53: Peek into the Void
When Liz opened her eyes the surroundings were not entirely what she had expected; namely that it wasn't the same as the last time he had been brought to the void.
Was there something different about the skill scroll? Liz wondered, but shook her head while thinking back to the skill. No, it was definitely the same.
"The reason is that you are more qualified, child." Liz turned toward the voice she recognised from her first visit to this place; but instead of an indescribable face made up of colours she could not even conceive of, what stood before her was a vaguely humanoid creature.
It was around the same size as Gloria, but that was where the humanoid features ended. Its entire body seemed to be formed from stars, shining brightly throughout its infinite body as purple, astral energy swirled within. Somehow, it was even more abnormal than the previous form she had been shown.
"Am I qualified to know what this place is?" Liz asked, looking around the room she was in. Below her was a magic circle with an incomprehensible set of markings, while the room itself were made of black, shiny bricks; bricks that hurt Liz's eyes too look at - she had never seen anything like them, it was as if they were dissolving existence around them. Liz was honestly becoming tired of all the things she didn't understand.
"This is my void palace." The astral figure spoke with a gentle tone, "With permission from the Goddess of the Void I built a palace that floats endlessly through the void, exploring distant universes and collecting the souls of individuals that catch my interest."
"Void?" Liz wondered aloud, but before she could ask any more the figure cut her off.
"It is the space between dimensions, both infinite and finite; physical and immaterial; real and not. A paradoxical existence that devours almost anything that enters it." It spoke, almost sounding fearful as it looked out of what seemed to be a window, "But I'm afraid that is all I can tell you for the time being, now we should go and begin the selection."
The astral figure once again left Liz with more questions than answers, but she knew better than to keep pressing a creature like the one in front of her when it was clearly not comfortable - she'd rather not upset it; much less the God that seems to favour it. Walking past the window Liz looked outside, only to be hit with an awful headache; the void trying to worm its way into her head. She collapsed to the floor panting, slowly recovering as the astral figure turned to stare at her silently.
He didn't offer any help because he couldn't. The number of beings that could do anything to the void were slim to none across the entire multiverse.
Liz eventually recovered and stood, following her guide from behind as she walked through the halls of its void palace. The entire palace was built of the same material, its strange appearance almost warping Liz's perception of the palace's size, but eventually she found herself in what seemed to be an audience hall.
The astral figure turned and spoke, its voice rippling through the hall.
"Now let's begin the selection!" He called, betraying Liz's expectations of what was going to happen once again.
"Huh?! Don't I have to prove myself first?" She asked, only for the figure to start laughing, the sound of its voice echoing not just within the hall, but throughout the palace.
"We have been watching you Elizabeth." It finally said, "From the moment you left, you have been within my sights. It is not often someone appears within my palace, would you not also take interest."
Liz felt unnerved that she was observed for so long, more so as the figure used her real name.
"You have fought against a devil, incarnation or not, gained the attention of another powerful beings, learned to manipulate the soul - and perhaps the most incredible: Brought about soul destruction." The figure spoke with clear joy, "These feats have made you more than worthy in the eyes of myself and the warriors that exist within my domain."
"Let us begin!"
Liz was going to say anything, but as she did 5 large statues crashed down around her. Each showed a detailed depiction of a person, though some skirted the line of what Liz considered personhood.
"Now choose, Elizabeth." The figure said, falling silent as his arm gestured towards each of the statues. Liz didn't know what to do at first, her second time in this place was much different from the previous; however, with nothing else to do she approached the first statue.
Looking up it was a beautiful woman who gave off a pious feeling, she looked entirely human and the only thing of note were the cracks that ran along the entirety of her neck - almost like it had been severed. Approaching closer, the plaque below the statue lit up brightly before manifesting as a system message - one Liz recognised from her previous visit:
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[Eren] [Class: Fallen Saintess] [Mythos: As a child Eren was found abandoned in the trash by a priest of the kingdom she lived in. Upon being brought into the church's orphanage she grew to be an exceptionally beautiful woman, but also one with powerful holy energy. Eventually, Eren became a saintess, one of the highest officials within the church. However, Eren came upon a conspiracy that would threaten the church - the highest officials, even the Pope himself - were not only stealing donation money for their own selfish pleasure, but also selling and experimenting on the orphans they took in. Upon discovering this, Eren threatened to reveal the information to the public, but the church acted faster; spreading rumours that Eren had consorted with a devil, blaming her for all of their evil actions. Under the hateful glares of the people she loved and protected, Eren was executed as a heretic] |
(A/N: Changed up Eren's page to be a bit more detailed and better written)
Eren was one of the options from her previous visit and one of the guardians she had considered the best available options. Now, with her undead no longer being as disposable as before, she seemed even more valuable since her class sounded like it may have some healing abilities.
But Liz was not one to give up other possible opportunities; turning to look at the other statues.
The next in line was probably the least person-like one. It had a number of head and limbs all haphazardly placed across its body, a disgusting mass of body parts all mashed into place in a revolting way that would surely have been disgusting had it not been made of stone.
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[Grad] [Class: Man-Eater] [Mythos: Previously the leader of a rebel force, Grand was captured and sentenced to death by the crown - however, instead of actually being killed his body was used for experimentation. However, the scientist's went too far, transforming Grand into a horrific and abominable monster with a hunger for flesh. Grand broke free and laid waste to laboratory he was captured in, devouring every being present until he finally regained his will only to be met with an extermination force that was able to finally kill him] |
Looking over the story it was yet another sad one, but his abilities did not seem to be what Liz needed at the moment so Eren was still the favoured choice.
Going to the next statue, it was humanoid, but not entirely. What towered over her was a statue of a skeleton dressed in a fine suit with a monocle and top-hat; the stereotypical image of a high-class man - to the point it was comical, especially as it was all over a body of nothing but bones.
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[Jack] [Class: Gentleman Killer] [Mythos: Facing abuse and hatred from his mother, Jack grew to have an incredibly sick and twisted mind. One he used to kill other across the entirety of his home city with surgical accuracy and evading the police such that he was never caught - immortalising himself as one of the most famous murderers to have ever existed] |
That sounds familiar somehow. Liz thought, looking over Jack's backstory. His story was much less sad and less about betrayal with Liz guessing she had attracted a larger crowd through her actions since her previous summoning. While it does sound intriguing, I don't need an assassin right now.
So, with Eren still as her top pick, Liz turned to the next statue.
This was the largest of the statue; clearly some kind of giant with 4 arms and bulging muscles that threatened to shatter his own statue.
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[Kraul - The Mountain Mover] [Class: Continent Shaker] [Mythos: Born underground to a weak clan as an Asura subspecies Kraul was incredibly weak and looked down upon the other clans; however, one fateful day as Kraul was hiding from those who wished to harm him he discovered a powerful and ancient treasure. Upon consumption, Kraul died, but in doing so underwent an apotheosis to gain unwavering strength. It did not take long for Kraul to become the strongest being within the caverns, but as he grew he continued to look for stronger beings to fight - eventually crashing through the caverns to scour the surface. Kraul went from place to place, fighting with everything he had until he was eventually killed - eternally remembered as a powerful warrior. |
Once again this was not an undead she needed at the moment; while it would be beneficial to be able to summon whatever Kraul was, he was still not what Liz was looking for.
The final statue was another woman, or at least that was what she looked like. She was the most modern of the statues as she wore a lab coat and goggles with messy hair that looked like it had never been brushed. The only indication she was not a human were her shark-like teeth, but otherwise she seemed like any scientist Liz had seen on Earth.
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[Lala] [Class: Mad Scientist] [Mythos: The head researcher of a kingdom, tasked with creating super soldiers that were both powerful and loyal. Her experiments were inhumane but she didn't care as she continued working to create what she called the perfect lifeform; but as funding ran dry, Lala ran out of test subjects. With her ambitions still unmet, Lala did not hesitate to test her magnum opus on herself; transforming into the creature she had desired to create. However, right at that moment hordes of soldiers arrested and executed her - the people having discovered her experiments and the royal family having used her as a scapegoat. |
This one is interesting. Liz thought. While her story was not as sympathetic as others, she had a class that would be useful outside of just combat - like Eren. That made her an actual contender in Liz's actual choice.
"So, Elizabeth." The figure spoke, knowing Liz had already looked at each of the choices, "Which of the guardians will you place under your employ?"
Liz was silent as she looked back and forth between her most desirable choices.
I need to think carefully. Liz thought as she knew that the choices that presented themselves were based on which guardians wanted to serve her were first come, first served. This meant that it was unlikely she would ever get the same choice twice. She was already lucky Eren had appeared again. I suppose I'd already made my choice.
Liz turned her back on Lala, deciding upon her next guardian - fully knowing how rare [Summon Guardian] was and understanding that Eren would be the better choice for her.
"I've made my choice." Liz called out, walking up to Eren's statue and placing her hand on its plaque.
Cracks formed all over the statues as light exploded from within. As the light enveloped the entire chamber, Liz heard the astral figure talking one last time.
"I wish you luck, child." With that Liz left the void palace, opening her eyes in the dirty waiting room - now holding 1 more addition.
Gloria and Nina were looking at Liz with some shock, not having expected her to explode into a beacon of light - at least not again. Their attention was then drawn to the other person in the room; though it was for different reasons.
Liz and Nina were simply shocked by the woman's appearance; mainly the lack of a head, a head that was currently in the woman's hands.
"Hi, Gloria. How have you been?" Eren spoke, shocking Nina and Liz as they had not expected her to speak - especially not in the bubbly and kind way she had. Gloria sighed and responded.
"It is good to see you as well Eren."
"You know her?" Liz asked, unable to take her eyes off Eren's severed head.
"Of course, we spent a long time together in the palace after our deaths." Eren was the one who spoke, her voice once again seeming far too cheery for someone who had been beheaded, "Ah! Also, it's nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you Lizzy."
Her smile was wide as she lifted her head and placed it on her neck, twisting it slightly before letting it go and shaking her body around to see if it had properly stuck on like it should have. It was honestly a surreal sight for Liz and Nina.
Eren began talking to Gloria, who remained entirely silent at Eren's onslaught of talking. Liz took the time to look over Eren's status page:
Name: [Eren]
Race: [Dullahan] (Attributes ↓)
Class: [Fallen Saintess]
Stats: [STR: 3] [END: 15] [AGI: 5] [INT: 8] [UNH: 21]
Race Skills: [Summon - Nightmare (1) (B+)]
Class Skills: [Unholy Malady (1) (C-)]
Other Skills:
Liz was quite impressed by Eren's stats and abilities; especially having a special stat: [UNH] or [Unholy], likely as some kind of twisted version of [HOL] or [Holy]. Liz opened up the 2 skills she had to see what kind of abilities she had and was more than happy with the results:
[Summon - Nightmare (1) (B+): Summon a nightmare to act as your spectral steed (0/1)]
[Unholy Malady (1) (C-): Powerful curse that causes {Disease} status effect on a target. Heals HP of undead-type beings. Power of skill scales with UNH and skill level]
Liz was happy that her assumption that the [Fallen Saintess] class was one that could heal her undead and further happy that she likely had 2 more undead to add to her book thanks to Eren being a dullahan, not a race she had expected of a priest-type class, but one that made sense given how she died; and the other coming from her summoning skill.
"Eren. Can you use your race skills for me?" Liz asked, cutting into Eren's barrage of questions for Gloria.
"Hmm." She hummed, turning to Liz, "Anything for you Lizzy."
With a smile, Eren activated the skill and a black magic circle appeared in the room. From it black, foggy spirits emerged and eventually took the form of a pitch black horse with a burning turquoise mane. It was extremely beautiful and despite how much it was snuggling up to Eren, clearly dangerous. Liz quickly flipped to her 2 new pages in the [Book of the Damned]; the new pages being in [Flesh] and [Spirit] respectively:
[Dullahan]
[Abilities: {Weapon Proficiency}, {Dark Magic}, {Horseback Combat}, {Mount Summon}]
[General rank estimation: A-]
[Powerful warriors who lost their heads during combat. They make for excellent commanders and while slightly weaker, can be considered equal to {Death Knights}, with their innate use as cavalry making some see them as superior. They are unit that is recommended to be integrated into an undead army when possible]
[Ingredients: {50 Beheaded Corpses}, {Knight's Grudge}, {Resentful Weapon}, {Bonded Mount Corpse}]
[Reduced Ingredients: {525 Corpses}, {Mana}]
[Nightmare]
[Abilities: {Fear Curses}]
[General rank estimation: E+]
[While they themselves are not a threat beyond their curse magic, when paired with superior undead, both units will see a great increase in ability. A highly useful undead to employ when necessary]
[Ingredients: {Horse Corpse}, {Fear Extract}]
[User has not yet summoned a {Nightmare}] [Summon a {Nightmare} to discover the reduced ingredients]
Liz was really happy with both entries, but she did begin to notice some strange items in the ingredients for summoning undead.
I'm going to need to figure out what these [Grudge] things are if I want to summon these undead. She thought before closing the book. Liz now had an undead with the ability to heal, but her territory was still a mess.
Eren and Gloria were talking, meaning Eren was talking at Gloria who was silent, and Nina had said she wished to go explore the manor. Liz now needed to come up with solutions to fix the problems in her territory.
"AAH!" Nina screamed, causing the other 3 women to stop what they were doing and rush over to where she was.
They found Nina in what seemed to be a wine cellar of some kind, an empty one, besides a number of rotting corpses.
"Sorry, I opened that cupboard and they all fell out on me." Nina explained, embarrassed at screaming; despite it being a completely reasonable reaction.
"Poor things." Eren said, her happy tone and smile fading into a depressed look, "I can feel their resentment and fear.
Eren crouched down and gently stroked one of the corpse's cheeks, not caring about the dirt that had gotten onto her. Liz however, had an idea.
She pulled out another of the rewards she had received: the book [Management 101] she had received after becoming a noble and placed it onto the pile of undead in front of her. Eren was a little confused, but there was nothing she could do.
She had lost most of her skills after her death and could not peacefully send off the restless souls of the poor servants in front of her; she doubted she even could any longer due to her class that had changed. Instead she stood back and watched as her new master pulled out the book she had been looking through before.
Liz activated [Create Undead] aimlessly, not having a desired undead to create and instead letting the skill interpret the materials she had used. Green fire lit up the pile of corpses and the book, melting the entire pile into black goo that gradually formed a magic circle that began to light up. The final phase came as the circle began to move again, gathering as it pulled itself off the floor into the shape of a man.
Finally, the created undead revealed itself and Liz was not unimpressed. Using [Create Undead] was a gamble if you didn't have a desire target as letting the skill decided usually wound up creating a zombie or skeleton - but this time Liz had gotten luck again as the [Book of the Damned] flipped to a blank page in the [Flesh] section of the book. It burned with ethereal light, just as other parts of the book had to reveal the information and image of the summoned undead:
[Corpse Butler]
[Abilities: {Service}, {Management}, {Zombie Maid Summoning}]
[General rank estimation: D-]
[While this undead has little to no combat ability, typically being weaker than a regular zombie, its ability shines in management roles. Should you have an estate that needs a caretaker, they are an excellent choice]
[Ingredients: {50 servant corpses}, {Management Ability}, {Mana}]
[Ingredients: {50 Corpses}, {Mana}]
Liz looked at the undead in front of her and felt it perfectly fit the image she had devised of a corpse butler. He was entirely human, the only undead thing about him was his grey skin and entirely black eyes; otherwise he was the archetypal image of a butler. Wearing a fancy suit with a monocle, grey hair and well-groomed facial hair to boot; he kneeled in front of respect in front of Liz who had a wide smile at the general understanding of his abilities.
"This is perfect." Liz smiled as she dismissed her [Book of the Damned].
"Thank you, my Lady. I am eternally at your service." The corpse butler spoke.
"Huh." Liz flinched backwards, her button eyes widening in shock.
This was Liz's first time with an intelligent, non-guardian/player, undead and it seemed to surprise her.
"I await your orders, my Lady."
